Hi Ya' all! EtsyMetal is having another jewelry challenge! We are in between seasons of Project Runway and got inspired by this new Bravo TV series called "Work of Art". It is a reality show about Artists, they give them a new challenge every week and it has been very inspiring, so we decided to do a corresponding jewelry challenges for our team members. So here are the first 3 episodes, we began this a bit late so we will be right on schedule for next week's episode 4; A Shock to the System," this weeks post is a bit long but I hope you like what you see and see!
"The artists size up their competition and are randomly put into pairs for their first elimination challenge. They learn that after only one night together, their mission is to create a piece of art that captures the essence of a fellow competitor."
"EtsyMetal Jewelry Translation"
After you get your partner, you will each take your perception of their essence and create a piece that Is YOU but reflects something you feel about them. Definitely not copy but your interpretation.
Norsola says, "A portrait of Tomi... The first word that sprang to mind when thinking of her was: wit. There is so much of it in her work... I see wit as stemming from perceptivity and reflection... to be witty is in many ways to be a mirror... to succinctly and humorously reflect back what one perceives... to reflect (to think), and reflect back. I was also inspired by her awesome use of texture and copper... Materials: Sterling silver, copper, mirrors, paper."
Tomi says, "I was initially going to put the cello in one of my shadowboxes, but chose instead to include the frame to suggest a box, and now that it's finished the frame reminds me of a doorway or window. The stars and galaxies are recurrent themes in Norsola's work (and one of the band's record labels is Constellation), so I added the natural white zircon."
Amanda says, "This raw emerald piece is a portrait of Victoria Takahashi, who's inspirational pieces offer the wearer mystery, layers, texture, movement and a certain romanticism, and always a natural organic-ness.
I used sterling silver, 14 karat gold and an uncut emerald. Around the top, there is the word "inspire," not only because I have been inspired by Vic's work (although in large part, due to,) but also because she motivates us to create by heading up our Etsy Metal challenges. Thank you Victoria!"
Victoria says, "I drew Amanda! "She makes beautiful jewelry and from all her pictures she is very beautiful too! I have not ever met her in person but she is my fellow team member. Her work feels romantic, feminine, graphic and palyful. She uses flowers often in her pieces, so this aspect really stood out for me and I chose to make some flowers to reflect her feminity and a symbol she uses often. Materials: Sterling Silver, oxidized. "
Inbar says, "The theme this week is portraits and I was paired with Kira Ferrer.
I had never met Kira - I know her virtually. To me Kira looks like an angel, delicate and beautiful. I made Kira a flower star delicate in look set with IF Tanzanite."
Kira says, "This is my portrait of Inbar. I discovered that Inbar used to do textile design. I see that in her work with her use of intricate surface patterns, something I can relate to as I also used to do textile design. I wanted to reflect the elegant, decorative nature of her work. Plus, our Inbar is a dynamic, majestic person, so I incorporated the fleur de lis to represent that energy."
2 Roses says, "This expresses our impression of Kathryn Cole as a delicate and complex person on the inside with a strong protective outer ring. It also mirrors her love of floral forms and echos a bit of the lines seen in her work. Carved bone and sterling silver 1.75in dia."
Kathryn says, "My piece was created as a look into the essence of 2 Roses work and their inspirations. My window represents looking into their studio and see their collaborations together and the magic that inspires. The window also can be interpreted as a frame that represents the pieces of amazing artwork that they as two create together. Each piece John and Corliss create is a Work of Art. I was also inspired by their leaf series. And the two leaves represent the two of them. Their work spans so many interests and are All amazing pieces of Art."
Nina says, "Portrait of Sara Westermark. I love silhouettes and I found a profile photo of Sara in her flickr - I'm not sure how much it actually resembles her, never having met, so I gave it a leaf print and used her little squiggle detail at the neck. Materials: Copper and Sterling Silver."
Sara says, "My partner for this challenge was Nina Gibson. I think of her and her work as fun, spontaneous, adventurous and most of all playful. I wanted to make a piece that was a wearable "toy". I had ring toss stuck in my head after spending some time outside with my kids. I added the tube set rhodolite garnets to reflect her sweetness and her happy disposition. This was a fun project!"
"For their second challenge, the artists are taken to an appliance graveyard filled with televisions, toaster ovens, and an array of broken electronics. Using the trash heap as their canvas, the artists are charged
with transforming one man’s trash into another man’s piece of art."
"EtsyMetal Jewelry Translation"
Participants should take an old electronic found object and incorporate it into their piece, OR if you do not want to use alt materials then feel free to just use the idea of one for inspiration!
Amanda says, "It's made from brass and sterling silver, and I utilized old sanding wheels as my "found objects." Both wheels are attached with rivets and are free spinning."
Tomi says, "Call me Orange, or Orange you Going to Call Me?" Materials: Copper, sterling silver, 18k gold, cell phone keypad, spessartine garnet."
Norsola says, "Lit - lantern pendant made from an old amp tube. Materials: Sterling silver, copper, amp tube."
Victoria says, "I am calling this piece "Amblyopic Opera Glasses." "I found one side of a binocular lens on the beach, gutted it and used that for the blinky part along with a LED light from an old bar party favor.
The other side is a magnifying lens. These are totally useless and you cant see with them at all, but I had fun with the concept! I really just made a toy! Materials: Copper, Brass, Steel, file handle, binocular lens, LED light, oxidized.
2 Roses says, This week its time to bring in the trash. The challenge was to find some garbage and make something of it. Two little piggies that we are, this is our meat n' tatters. It just happened to be garbage day when we started this challenge. So, just to up the anty on ourselves, we limited ourselves to whatever we could find at the neighbor's curbside art supply. As luck would have it, the guy two houses down was reflooring his bedroom with bamboo. This left a shitload of small bamboo scraps for us. We love America. We also like to play with fire. What would happen if we took a soldering iron to the bamboo, we thought to ourselves? Magic!A little carving, a little burning and Viola! Bamboo hearts. Sterling silver, bamboo, bad habits. 1.75" x .75"w
The contestants meet the President and Publisher from one of the largest book publishers in the world, who guides them through the impressive history of the marriage of art and literature. For their elimination challenge, the artists are charged with creating innovative cover art for a classic novel.
EtsyMetal Jewelry Translation:
This week choose a book from the list below and make a representational piece of the book. Pretend it will be the jewelry piece that is sold along with the book when it launches. Something that represents characters in your book or represents the book idea in general. Below were our choices to be inspired from:
Frankenstein-Mary Shelley
Dracula-Bram Stoker
Alice in Wonderland-Lewis Carrol
Pride and Prejudice-Jane Austen
The Time Machine-H.G. Wells
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-Robert Louis Stevenson
Tomi says, "For the EtsyMetal Work of Art Challenge, a reversible pendant based on Stevenson's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde". Sterling silver, copper, brass, 18k gold, indicolite tourmaline."
Kira says, "Judging a Book by Its Cover/ Pride and Prejudice
Materials: Sterling silver, brass, copper."
Inbar says, "I picked Alice in Wonderland."
Amanda says, "It's a necklace inspired by Alice in Wonderland. It's hollow formed from sterling silver with a 4mm peridot for the "bottle stopper."
2 Roses says, "A list of titles were provided to choose from, among the Pride and Prejudice and Frankenstien. We chose Pride and Prejudice.Actually, we'd been planing to make some neck bolts for quit a while. This just gave us the extra kick to get'em done. The best part is that the bolts are fully functional which Corliss proved by hooking up a standard car battery to them. This was quite effective in knocking John on his ass for several minutes, with the side benefit of quite monstrous behavior when he began to regain consciousness."
Victoria says, "I am calling this piece Through the Looking Glass."
"I picked Alice in Wonderland, it was really hard to pick from the many ideas from that creative story!? I was selfish and decided to get a project done that Ive been wanting and needing for awhile. When I go to the grocery store I cannot read the labels anymore!? So, this is my new old lady magnifier, Oh I also tried a new technique that I was shown last summer, I sandcast the rabbit, it was pretty fun! Materials: Sterling Silver, Lens, Oxidized."
In this episode the artists are challenged to create a piece that is shocking and memorable, and speaks to issues that are important to them personally. An originator of provocative and controversial imagery.
EtsyMetal Jewelry Translation... "Please make a shocking piece of jewelry!"
See ya' all next week, Thursday July 8th!
Thanks for reading the EtsyMetal Blog!
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Victoria says, "For this challenge my dear sweet partner says, "why don't you make an engine?" I said, "No." So he begins to show me all these car parts and I stop him when I see this freaking gorgeous Hilborn fuel injector stacks. Please let my heart be still, I do not think I did these beauties any justice but they definitely were all my inspiration for this piece. Their wonderful shapes is a favorite of mine so how could I not indulge?The little stacks in my ring wiggle around in the setting. Materials: Sterling Silver, Oxidized and Fabricated"
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"The artists size up their competition and are randomly put into pairs for their first elimination challenge. They learn that after only one night together, their mission is to create a piece of art that captures the essence of a fellow competitor." 
