Friday, June 20, 2008

Jewelry piece of the month

I am still working with magnet wire. The goal is not really to create jewelry but it is nice to practice and experiment with the desired material and then actually have a result that can be enjoyed. My goal is still to add more depth to my fiber pieces. 

I bought the book 'crocheted wire jewelry' by Arline M. Fisch. I like the book very much. The information about materials, wire gauges, hooks etc is great. The projects look very interesting, some of them I like better than others. I was a bit disappointed that in quite a few pieces one needs to have more than just crocheting experience. Soldering comes in very handy so does bezel setting. I also think the descriptions could be a bit more precise. I consider myself to be a good crocheter. But I am quite sure that without my very profound knowledge of reading patterns and instructions I would not be able to use the book. Still I am enjoying the book and use it a a challenge in between my other art work. 

Oh before I forget. I think they forgot to mention that the most important tool in creating this pieces for people above 30 years old is a very very good lamp. My absolute favorite phrases in the descriptions are : " count the stitches often as you crochet. Dropping or adding a stitch will greatly disrupt the pattern of the chain". I certainly agree with that but I was never at any point able to count the stitches as you can see on the picture. Or how about that one:" The shape is clumsy at this point, but make note of the stitch pattern. You can open the loops with a scribe to count the stitches and see the pattern more easily". I started bursting into laughter when I read that one, 'clumsy. open the loops WHAT loops, I know they were there just WHERE', I am sure an expert is able to do so, and after I bought a lamp I at least saw traces of stitches.... my friend kept me going by promising cosmos if I finish the project. I LOVE my bracelet and will treasure it. And of course the admiration for the artists working in that field has grown immensely. 

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi Maya! Love your story about your Arline Fisch project. I just took a class with her, and even though I'm a wire jewelry artist, I knew it would've been tough to learn her techniques just by reading them. If your still exploring the medium, check out my book... simpler hand-wrapping techniques with no soldering required for the projects in the book :)