Tag Archives: Etsy

Clean, Simple Design by Chinchar and Maloney

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If you’re into making things, you might understand the principle that a complicated or fancy design can camouflage a number of ills.  You can always make it look like you meant to do that.  Simple and clean is so much more difficult because the mistakes have no place to hide.  Making simple design attractive and interesting can take some work.  It is for such reasons that I was struck by the clean and attractive work offered by Colin and Marian of the Etsy store, Chinchar and Maloney.

Silver Pendant with Tanzanite

I love the color of tanzanite or, perhaps, I should say colors — it changes so much in different light.

Green Grey Diamond Ring

Another fine example of a gorgeous stone that gets to take center stage in a nice clean design.

Comes in Waves - molded fine silver wave pendant

Finally, it’s almost hard to believe that this is a piece of metal because it is so fluid.

Such nice work that reminds one of what good design can do to showcase beautiful materials and masterful metal work.

Metal in the Right Hands

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Metal in the hands of the right person can be an amazing thing.  Metal can bend, stretch, take on a texture and more but, to make it do these things and produce a desirable result, takes talent — talent for handling the metal and a vision for the design.

Manya Pickard makes metal sing in a way that says raw talent perfected by countless hours of practice.  Her pieces are created with tasteful design concepts and a mastery of metal.

Breaking Wave Earrings
Lotus Earrings
Turbulent Sea Necklace

These beautiful pieces are available in Manya’s Etsy store, Bob’s Whiskers, along with many other designs.

I love Manya’s consistent aesthetic in her pieces.  While she manages a lot of dimension and depth, there is something that gives her work a lovely hand-drawn quality.  Her painterly style, for me, calls to mind things such as storybook illustrations and Japanese screen paintings.

Reflections of Architecture

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It is my impression that jewelry designers are frequently influenced by architectural details. I suppose it’s funny that things so different in scale can reflect each other — aesthetic principles at their largest and smallest.  For some reason, though, this interplay does seem to happen.  I, for one, often see an old window and think it should be the setting for a stone or that the contours of a piece of crown molding could be the pattern on a bracelet.

There are lots of great examples of the juxtaposition of jewelry and architecture.  Here are two.  They range from the “inspired by architecture” end of the spectrum to the actual depiction of an interesting building.

Architectural Geometric Bangle - by Kat

This sleek bangle is available in Kat’s Etsy store, aeliodesign.  I see so much in this piece that references architecture, furniture, and just larger space in general.  I see an atrium, a column, and even a funky, retro coffee table.

Amsterdam Necklace - by Laurie Poast

This miniature building, by Laurie Poast, is available in her Etsy store, ARTISANIEeurope.  This adorable piece, of course, is more directly influenced by architecture.  The little building is just beautifully rendered with just the right amount of detail to give it character.

Lust for Life

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Aside from the aesthetic value of jewelry, which I love, I am attracted to the idea of carrying around a little piece of life with me.  Typically, that “life” is metaphorical.  It can be a piece of history — personal or human history in general.  It might be the connection one feels to the maker of the piece.  In the case of Wearable Planter, Colleen Jordan‘s Etsy store, the concept of a portable piece of life takes on a whole new meaning.

As the song says, that’s worth a million in prizes.

Colleen manages to make a novel concept very attractive.  I think it is a testament to her well-considered designs that little pieces of greenery can stand in for stones and really not miss a beat.  These pieces might not be for every day or for every occasion but they are unmistakable as jewelry that is actually meant to be worn and are not just art pieces.  I love the natural variable that is built into the pieces by virtue of the addition of plants.  No two plants will ever be the same and they will be beautifully flawed.

A Pop of Color

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Oh, how I love enamel!  I took an enameling workshop and, turns out, that I don’t really enjoy enameling but I’m sure glad that other people do.  People like Michelle Mahler of Teka and Zoe on Etsy and tekaandzoe.com.

Typically, I am in favor of a subtle addition of color in jewelry.  But, in the case of Michelle Mahler’s work, I love that she really goes for it in terms of color because she does it so well.  There is so much more than just a little hint of color — her jewelry is all about the color.  I think one should also appreciate that in terms of skill.  From my brief experience with enameling, I learned that it is not easy to know what color you are going to get when enameling. The color does not come out of the container as it will turn out once fired onto metal.  In order to get such vibrant, consistent color as Michelle Mahler does, you really have to know what you’re doing.

A Piece of the Night Sky

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Gemstones are wondrous and varied.  Isn’t it funny that the earth produces these amazing things then we take them, assign them value and, quite frequently, carry them around with us.

Far and away, my favorite stone is lapis lazuli.  I especially love really dark lapis with a lot of pyrite because it resembles the night sky.  Gorgeous lapis has appeared in jewelry across the aesthetic spectrum for much of human history.  Today, jewelry designers, of all stripes, are still inspired by the dark stone, constantly finding new and inventive uses for it.  I don’t know much about the lapidary arts, but it is my understanding that it is a soft stone and, perhaps, that’s why it can be carved with such detail.

Carved Lapis - Chinese Qing Dynasty

Here, are some fine and varied example of what this versatile stone can do in jewelry.

Antique Lapis Brooch - for sale by Adin

This brooch is available on Adin.  Just look at that color.  It sings against the platinum and diamonds.  It just looks like the ancient treasure it is.

Lapis Lazuli Crinkle Earrings - by Mark Kaplan

These lapis stones are paired with stellar metal work by Mark Kaplan and are available through Etsy.  This is actually my favorite cut of lapis — round and flush in its setting.  I have a small pendant made with a piece of lapis just like these and it is among my favorite jewelry possessions.  I found it a bin of small bits and pieces in Chinatown here in San Francisco and paid $5 — but that’s a story for another time.

Unexpected Wild Flower - by Jean-D

Finally, this incredible piece by Jean-D can be found in Etsy store MonBedo.  It has a piece of fine lapis, which, as the description of this item explains, is lapis without any pyrite.  The ring shows how lapis can also capture an organic shape.  The setting is so striking and bold and does the beautiful piece of stone justice.  As an aside, I also happen to really like that Jean-D posted some detailed comments about the design of this piece.  It’s nice to hear from a designer about how a piece came to be.

Negative Space to a New Level

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The use of negative space should be a consideration in jewelry design.  When earrings hang from ears — suspended in space — how are they interacting with that space around them?  How does the shape of a pendant appear against the backdrop of skin.  Filigree, of course, a style that has appeared throughout the ages, is all about making shapes out of negative space.

Lorena Martinez-Neustadt brings negative space to a new level with her line of jewelry (available on Etsy in the shop Gemagenta).

The first two pieces below, designed to be two-dimensional renderings of three-dimensional things, like faceted stones, are so clever.  Lorena made the wise choice to leave some of the piece undisturbed.  Perhaps, to suggest a glare off of the stone or even just to let our imagination do some of the work.  Either way, it strikes me as well-considered design element.  In a way, by leaving some of it “blank,” she is using negative space in two ways.  (Does that equal a positive?)  Those little omissions are also what set Lorena’s “gem” pieces apart from some other similar concepts that have shown up in the mass produced market in the last few years.

Faceted Brilliant Pendant - by Lorena Martinez-Neustadt

Faceted Emerald Pendant - by Lorena Martinez-Neustadt

Beyond these gem pieces, Lorena’s collection has a consistent use of negative space that feels fresh.  I especially love these:

Lingerie Elongated Pendant - by Lorena Martinez-Neustadt

Lingerie Ring - by Lorena Martinez-Neustadt

The designs are lacy, yet clean.  Inspired by lace and lingerie without overdoing the concept.  The pieces are flattering against the skin and appear to be very wearable.

A Brooch of a Different Color

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As I have I mentioned, I think that good jewelry design creates a beautiful item that is worn on the body and that it is not necessarily about it’s interaction with clothing.  Because of that, brooches and pins tend to fall off of my radar — those are things that your clothes wear.  Sometimes, though, a piece is just so well done that it must be mentioned.

This is the Quatre Cinq Silver Brooch by Dorothy Cheng, which is currently posted on Etsy.

Quatre Cinq Silver Brooch - by Dorothy Cheng

Worn by a sweater or worn by a person — Who cares?  It is drop-dead gorgeous.  It strikes the perfect balance of clean design, inspired architectural touches, well-considered scale, and attention to detail that makes a perfect piece.  I can see it with a dress, with a jacket, anything.

Thank you, Dorothy Cheng, for turning my head with a brooch.

Alternative Materials by Cla Contemporary

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When making jewelry, there are no artistic talents that goes to waste.  You can bring skills from all different disciplines to the jeweler’s bench and find them useful. Chelsey, who is the creative force behind the Etsy store Cla Contemporary, proves that point by adding her own handmade ceramics to her pieces.

Ceramics in jewelry can get mixed results.  It can be earthy but it can also be clunky and messy.  Cla Contemporary is something else in entirely.  It’s true to it’s name.  It’s modern and clean.

I think the ring is sculptural perfection.  It’s a nice, clean design but it is not short on personality.

Nice Metal Work by Francine Ruth

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As I have mentioned, I am in the early stages of learning metal work and jewelry making.  One of the unintended effects of this education, is that I notice the quality of metal work on jewelry more than I previously did.  I turn my nose up a messy solder or uneven prongs around a stone — even though I am still working on doing these things properly myself.  I find I also try to guess what techniques were used in pieces that I am admiring.

I noticed Jewelry by Francine on Etsy today and felt compelled to mention her work for two reasons.  First, she is making beautiful pieces and using an impressive array of techniques.  The stone setting is well-done, the enameling is judiciously used, and the designs are well-composed.  Secondly, I had to give Francine Ruth a shout-out because she’s from Cleveland.  My husband is a born and raised Clevelander and I, myself, have done two tours of duty in that fair city.  Always nice to see lovely artisan pieces coming out of Cleveland.

I love the polka-dots on the bracelet and earrings.  I can imagine these being great jewelry staples — professional, casual, quirky yet understated.  I am not familiar with the technique, Keum Boo, which was used to make these pieces.  (I’m sure I’m showing my newbie status now.)  The effect is striking.  I like how the technique appears to allow the addition of another metal to a piece while being able to keep it flush.

These pieces can be found here:

Tiny Bubbles Earrings, Keum Boo Bracelet, and Tile Me a River Necklace