2018 Jewelry-Making Contest Winners
Featuring Seed Beads
"Oh my gosh! I'm sorry, I kind of screamed that, didn't I? Thank you so much--I'm so honored! You just made my day." - Jody Young
Jody Young made a wall hanging that's also jewelry, in glorious, intricate detail. Gold Medal winner, Silver Mermaid, combines a range of shell beads and components, including gleaming nautilus shells, with precise seed bead work. The detachable necklace strands are held on with strong magnets so the designer can leave the art hanging while she wears one of them.
"This is amazing. The shells just gleam. You want to dive in. And the detachable necklaces are quite clever!" - Chris Freedman
The Silver Medal went to Summertime. Patricia's lush necklace made a scene--in more ways than one! The detailed design features a summertime pond, complete with seed-beaded cattails, willow trees, flowers and dragonflies.
"Look at all these different seed bead stitches. And the clasp is very clever." - Chris Freedman
Tamara Allison's coppery creation is designed, she says, for a bride. So, it features muted coppers, greys and creams to accent the floral cabochon focal. Tamara used off-loom bead-weaving, metalsmithing and stringing techniques together in this harmonious design. Copper Garden took this year's Bronze Medal.
"There are just so many techniques going on here. So many different mediums. Great to see." - Chris Freedman
The Employee's Choice Award went to Reef by Glitzy Stones & Beads. This Italian artist lives near the sea--and this necklace shows it! Modeled after the branching shapes of Mediterranean coral, Rosa's lush tangle of red lets turquoise chips, pink coral chips and cultured pearls nestle among them. A lampwork glass fish and glass shell beads in a wire fishing net round out this necklace's bounty. Our employee judges unanimously wanted to take this one home.
"This is just gorgeous." - Chris
The Presidential Award went to Ming Bag by Daniela Neumann. It looks like a priceless Ming vase, but this incredibly detailed seed bead creation is actually a bucket style pouch made of Miyuki Delica® beads. Loomed in sections then subtly stitched together, this piece of seed bead engineering is both functional and beautiful.
"You can't really see the seams. This is beautifully crafted." - Chris
Named after the princess of the ballet Swan Lake, this utterly unique design caught every eye in the room. This year's clear winner of the Trendsetter Award goes to Odette by Sonia Lidozzi. Tiny rocaille seed beads in white and grey make up a majority of the piece--accented with gold-colored beads--which is then embellished with downy white feathers.
"That's absolutely exquisite. I would wear that with a black dress. I would wear that for a whole week." - Chris
Featuring Metal
"Are you kidding?!" Stacy exclaimed upon hearing she had taken the grand Gold placement in the 2018 Metals Jewelry-Making Contest. "Seriously? Yay me!" she excitedly giggled while making a few "wheee" sounds between speaking. We joined in with her merriment and let her know we loved her piece Owl Always Love You. "Yay! Okay yay!"
Owl bet you won't be able to take your eyes off this piece, just like our judges. When asked about inspiration behind the piece, Stacy said, "Winter is my favorite season. I love the whole 'every snowflake is unique' idea. Lastly I've been wanting to make a wire woven owl for a while now. So, this piece just fell together." Stacy Farnsworth's avian design soared to the Grand Gold prize on the wings of praise for the immaculate wire techniques and overall design.
"Unbelievably incredible!" "Is that cute or what?" "Gotta be number one." - Chris Freedman
"Snorkeling is an inspirational experience and I wanted to capture it in this necklace. The undersea world is all the jumping off point that I needed," said Karen Suarez, designer of Silver winner By the Sea. Our judges dove headfirst into their love for this necklace with its exceptional metal clay workmanship. You can truly picture yourself amongst the schools of fish while exploring the captivating sights of the ocean.
"Beautifully done workmanship on the fish. Each one done a little different." - Chris Freedman
Louise Shadonix loves baby animals and had "a yearning to learn how to sculpt them while in bed with a flare up of pain and Fibromyalgia." The tenderness of this necklace titled Connected, with nuzzling metal clay giraffes, did not go unnoticed by the judges, who were also impressed with the quality of craftsmanship even extended to the back of the piece.
"This is sweet." "Beautiful workmanship." - Chris Freedman
The Metal Employee's Choice Award went to Jose Cardenas, who whisked the judges off their feet with Knight, a wire-wrapped gemstone cabochon and chainmaille necklace. With inspiration from European styles of jewelry-making as well artwork from Medieval times, ancient Egyptians and Greeks, as well as Native Americans, Jose combined all that inspires him into a necklace that elicited many an "amazing" from the mouths of judges.
"That's some intricate wirework!" "Over the top" - Chris Freedman
With brilliant execution, designer Natasha Downs used architectural inspiration to construct The Snow Queen's Palace. "I've done a series of jewelry pieces using PMC to construct 'sanctuary' buildings in three dimensions so that the viewer can 'look into' the structure." This show stopper earned the President's Award. We certainly couldn't help but look at the whole piece!
"Makes you smile." - Chris Freedman
Desert Winds takes the Trendsetter Award. Created by Karen Lemler, this design was inspired by the beauty found in Phoenix, Arizona. "The copper wire frame represents the actual winds that have tossed copper around and weathered it nicely. Desert life and colors are represented with the charms and beads. The partially hidden square crystal stones represent heatwaves." The judges loved the movement of the piece and appreciated how wearable the design is, too.
"That's fun." - Chris Freedman
Featuring Crystal
"No way ..." said Tatiana Van Iten when told of her grand Gold placement. "That's beautiful! Thank you. Thank you. You made my day ... I still can not believe that!"
There were so many details in A Song of Ice and Fire (The Final Chapter) by Tatiana Van Iten that each judge could point out something new to the panel. All were impressed with the overall balance of the piece despite being such a statement and asymmetrical design--largely due to the striking icy flower and spike. It's "an engineering feat to get everything going the way it is," exclaimed one judge. The beautiful combination of techniques and expert craftsmanship were undeniable, earning the piece top prize.
"It's gorgeous. Tells such a story. Just wow ..." - Chris Freedman
The absolutely beautiful and beautifully sentimental piece Genny by jewelry designer Viviana Mollicone is named after the artist's father, Gennaro. "This necklace in shades of blue is dedicated to my dad who is gone. The blue like his eyes and the sea he loved so much." The beachy color palette was perfectly executed with tons of tiny crystals stacked in various ways to refract light, earning it Silver. We have no doubt Gennaro would have adored and sung praises of the captivating piece as much as our judges did.
"Isn't that pretty? Beautiful blending of color. So pretty." - Chris Freedman
Inspiration comes from what is around us, and Midnight City was inspired by designer Ekaterina Uskova's love of looking out the window of planes. She explains how each night as thousands of lights turn on--streets, houses, skyscrapers, cars, roads--they take over in a beautiful display. She imagines this is how birds or those on a plane view the splendor below. The judges believed she perfectly captured this combination of dark and light while producing a completely wearable, sparkling piece.
"Mysterious. Beautifully done. Exquisite." - Chris Freedman
Jewelry designers Michelle and Natalie Packard wanted a piece that grabbed the eye, and they nailed it, winning this year's Employee's Choice Award. "We see the jewelry market moving toward music festival jewelry," Michelle said regarding their inspiration. "People want to stand out at music festivals." Coachella Inspired Festival Crystal Feather Necklace would certainly catch the festival sunlight as well as the nighttime light shows with the impressive amount of crystals packed into the huge pendant-style centerpiece.
"Fun! A kaleidoscope of color." - Chris Freedman
The juxtaposition of order and chaos with pearls, crystals, chain and more creates an eye-catching necklace and epaulettes entitled Love is a Battlefield. Jewelry designer Sheila Christie says the inspiration for this spectacular piece is, "The rewarding and frustrating relationship between mothers and daughters." With a little bit of everything thrown in and unique connections to bring it all together, the piece caught the eye of judges and insisted it must receive an award.
"A lot of thought went into this piece. Unique." - Chris Freedman
Not all jewelry has to appear over the top to send a style message. This Chakra Opallios-Yin necklace by jewelry designer Karen Leslie is absolute proof. "I love the trendy zipper necklace craze," said Karen. The combination of natural rainbow effects from the opals was an exquisite choice to pair with the sparkling aquamarine crystals. The Trendsetter design takes a traditional Y-style design and elaborates on it to create something that is new, fresh and eye-catching.
"Unusual. Love the blend of colors." - Chris Freedman
Featuring Creative Clays
"Oh, wow! Thank you! I spent a long time making that, just for your contest. I feel like I should have questions for you, but I can't think of anything. Wow!"
Grand Gold prize went to Rainbow Rock Garden. Sarah Machtey, used a range of different polymer clays, including Premo! Sculpey®, Fimo® and Cernit®, to create this jewelry set and it's self-containing storage container. The center cluster is removeable and can be used as the lid on the polymer clay storage box (made to look like a river-smoothed stone). The golden veining is highlighted by liquid clay, in an additional dazzling technique.
"This is so detailed. The veining and the thinness of the clay is really skillful." - Chris Freedman.
Each sea urchin and coral piece is molded in polymer clay in Kathy Bingaman's La Sirenas, along with the large siren herself. Kathy created the molds, siren face cane, bezels and backing plate all from polymer clay in a range of materials and techniques.
"This is so technically challenging--even the back is amazing and so professionally executed." - Chris Freedman
The Bronze went to Four Doors. Laura Burlis' three-dimensional décor design features the four seasons, with each door highlighting a different season. Laura used recycled materials, covered them with a range of polymer clays and added shimmer using mica powder.
"It's really all clay. This is whimsical and very different." - Chris Freedman
When Cyndi Salata "experiments" with clay, things really get interesting! Her Sushi décor sculpture--with its tiny cat, aloe plant and light-up fish tank--caught our eyes and wouldn't let us go. The multiple tiny elements combine into a charming design we thought was purr-fect, winning Employee's Choice.
"Isn't this just the best? I want to take it home. My cat does this." - Chris Freedman
The President's Award goes to this tiny elephant. Nicoleta Cornea's class project got an "A" for the multiple techniques she used to create his realistic skin texture, ivory-look tusks and tiny clothes, as well as the internal engineering that makes Boy Elephant poseable.
"Yes, and he's adorable, too." - Chris Freedman
This Trendsetter looks like a vase, but this amazingly detailed leaf bud is actually a storage box. Carefully cut along the veining, the seam between top and bottom completely disappears when closed. The high-contrast veining of Sarah Machtey's piece gives it a magical look.
"When you close it, it's absolutely seamless! Seamless! That is patient skill, right there." - Chris Freedman
The woman in Sabrina Barnett's polymer clay design is the ruler of an imaginary land. It's the first in a series of pieces showcasing a variety of media (including mirror bits) and subtle additions of mica powder and Gilders Paste® to create magical shimmer and fairyland color. This year's Honorable Mention goes to The Lady of Maralangar.
"Very unusual. You just want to keep looking at it." - Chris Freedman
Romanian artist Cornelia Maria Radu Antonescu created the mosaic-look cane which covers each bead and component of this jewelry set. Inspired by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi, her Kaleidoscopic Play jewelry set uses seed beads and ribbon to accentuate accent colors.
"Love this 'confetti cane' technique--so different from what we've seen done before." - Chris Freedman
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