Interview With the Artist: JewelryArtbyDawn

Dawn of JewelryArtByDawn is currently the only member among the thousands of Starving Jewelry Artist members (7,123 and counting) who...paints. And wahoo! Does she ever!! Here's an example of her work: we collaborated on a competition on the Starving Jewelry Artist forum, taking second place in the use of color. All the beads you see were painted by Dawn. The Blue Tiger butterfly bead is just 3/4 of an inch and is perfect in every detail.





So, let's start with an obvious question: how and why did you start painting? Who influenced you? Who - My mom. She is an extremely talented artist. As far back as I can remember she was always sketching, drawing and painting. To keep me and my sister out of her hair while she was creating, she'd set us up with pencils, crayons, water colors and paper. Eventually, as we got older she encouraged us to play with her oil paints.

Sounds like she instilled her love of art in you.

Do you have any special memory of when you were little? I don't remember it, but one day she was soaking some brushes in turpentine and at the age of two I toddled into the room and drank the entire contents of the glass. My mom thinks I thought it was milk. I started screaming which led to a trip to the emergency room to have my stomach pumped...fun, fun, fun - not! Anyway, that experience didn't deter me from wanting to paint, but it made my mother much more careful about leaving dangerous chemicals out that a toddler might decide to sample!

How did you get to where you are now? I went through a very long spell of not painting anything during the 80's and 90's because I was too wrapped up in my career. Sixteen years later I realized I'd had it with climbing the career ladder and the overall rat race of the city and hubby and I sold our house and moved to the mountains. It wasn't much later that I found myself wanting to paint again and I did, but it didn't feel quite right. I tried watercolors and pastels, but those weren't doing it for me either. A few years later I was bitten by the jewelry bug and one day it struck me that perhaps I could paint miniatures as pendants for the necklaces I was making. Gave that a try and it was a perfect fit. I have never felt so creatively fulfilled.

What or why do you keep painting? Why - Because I have to. It's the same to me as breathing oxygen or eating food; a part of me would shrivel up and wither away without it. The feeling I get when I look at a completed piece is like nothing else. I still go through spells when I don't feel like making things, but I know once those phases pass, the paintings and the jewelry making will be there waiting when I am ready. Those dry spells don't last long because I love making things so much that I can't stand to be away from my workbench for any length of time.

Dawn recently opened her ArtFire shop, JewelryArtByDawn. Here are a few examples of her work:





Your Artfire shop, JewelryArtByDawn also contains copper work. What made you turn in that direction? Once I started making jewelry, I found the wire work I was seeing made by others endlessly fascinating and I wanted to give it a try. What I realized is that while I enjoyed working with wire, I'm not a natural at it and I've worked really hard to get to where I am now. I try to balance painting pendants and beads with wire work. Sometimes all I want to do is paint and other times the wire is calling me and it becomes my main choice.
Because it was inexpensive, I used copper for practice. It would have been insane to use silver as I needed a lot of practice! As I became more adept with wire, I also realized that I loved the color of copper. It's beautiful shiny, amazingly rich looking when oxidized and I've yet to find a color that isn't enhanced when paired with copper. These days, it's my "go to" choice, although I have a small stash of silver set aside for the rare piece that tells me silver would be a better fit - something that doesn't happen very often. If the price of silver were to drop below copper, copper would still be my first choice of metals as I love everything about copper.


Here's an example of Dawn's copper work:


Dawn, thankyou for answering all my questions. So, everyone, go to Dawn's ArtFire shop, JewelryArtByDawn to see more of her lovely work.

Interview with the Artist: me!! Part 1

Hi! I thought I'd interview myself today (yes, the lazy way out for a subject). I will say up front that my Etsy shop, BeadsOnHand, is on "vacation", meaning that it's currently empty. Although there are other kumihimo pieces on Etsy, my silk necklaces are more complex. I am not saying my work is better than others, just different. So, on to the interview.

Briefly, kumihimo literally means "bringing together". Kumihimo braiding may have been done in the earliest Japanese eras, 8000-400 B.C. but fibers wouldn't have survived in the damp climate. There is evidence of braids from 300-500 A.D. burial mounds where are found ceremonial clothes adorned with braids. Yes, Japanese samurai warriors used braids to tie on their armor plates, but braids were also used in daily life and religious ceremonies.

What made you choose a fiber art? I started knitting when I was 7 and made sweaters for my Barbie doll (the only time I ever played with dolls). I sew, knit, crochet, and quilt. The wonderful array of fibers in yarns and weaving constantly amaze me.


When and why did I start braiding? For some reason that I can't remember I decided I wanted to try this new technique after seeing a kumihimo gallery at Braidershand. Unfortunately there was very little information on the net about 6 years ago showing how to braid. Finally, I found a site with very simple instructions. I made my first braid using a disk cut out of a cereal box! Six years later you can find many sites with kumihimo galleries showcasing work from accomplished artists around the world. I have used books from two of these artists: Jacqui Carey and Rodrick Owen.

My then-husband made me this wonderful maru dai. The maru dai is the traditional braiding stool; mine is slightly taller than the regular 16". To braid you would kneel (or sit on a chair with the maru dai on a small box, for those of us who can't kneel hours on end).

Why do I prefer to use silk? Well, it's the traditional fiber used. But it is also very comfortable to wear against bare skin even in hot weather. And silk is a very strong material. Here's a photo of my home made tama (bobbin for holding the silk) and the silk. Since a set of 8 "real" bobbins is about $100 I covered some prescription bottles with polymer clay. I can vary the weight by adding or removing pennies in the bottle. Weight is very important to braiding, and that would be a whole other discussion.



How long did it take me to be comfortable braiding, and reasonably proficient? Well, 6 years later I have made every mistake in the book! All SATeam artists have spent hours, days, months, and years learning their craft. Kumihimo is the same: you are teaching your hands to braid and your eye to combine colors, shape and form.

Did you need to learn anything else? Yes!! Years ago there were no clasps availabe for braid ends. So, while attending a jewelry show I met a wonderful woman who worked with copper, Penny Cox. This was the first time I had met someone who worked with copper professionally. She inspired me to try my hand with it. (I think I'll do a second part of this interview next week.)

Can you show examples of your work? Both of these necklaces were posted on the Starving Jewelry Artists forum. The first is a combination of my love affair with glass leaf beads and different braids using the same colors:



And a close up view:



And a close up of the clasp, in copper of course:



Finally, another necklace and detail of the braids:




So, Part 2 next week. I can hardly wait!!

Interview with the Artist - Cat from Cat's Wire

By N Valentine Studio

Featured Artist – Cat from Cat's Wire, Germany

Cat is a talented wire artist, working with many different mediums creating unique woven and crochet pieces. My personal favorite of her pieces is the Sleepy Star pendant. A wonderful hand crafted polymer clay face surrounded with crochet wire, what a stunning piece.


Here’s a small look into Cat’s wire working world!


How long have you been working in your medium?
I started wire crocheting about 1.5 years ago. About half a year later I added knitting with a spool or with needles.

What drew you to this medium?
TV actually. I saw a report on German TV about Etsy, it sounded interesting and I started browsing. I stumbled upon a shop with wire crochet jewelery and after looking at it three, four times I decided I wanted to give it a try and was hooked immediately. No pun intended!

What is your favorite thing about your art?
I have so many possibilities! It starts with different kinds and colors and gauges of wire and ends nowhere … yet. I love to play and experiment and my art is perfect for that. Another thing is I can take it with me, on the train, into waiting rooms, to the park.

What's your favorite piece?
That is usually the piece I'm just working on. For now I'll pick my “Yarnie's Treasure” pendant, a little basket with balls of colored wire “yarn” and headpin “knitting needles”.




What's the hardest piece you've ever made?
The hardest piece I've ever made is a wire crochet sculpture, a miniature giraffe, I have not been able yet to part with it. It needed a lot of inspiration, patience, wire, nerves … and more patience.

What’s the one favorite tool you cannot live without?
My crochet hooks!

What other crafts do you do?
Besides crocheting, spool knitting or knitting with wire I have been working with polymer clay lately. I started out with beads and cabs that I like to combine with my wirework, but I also get more and more into making polymer clay miniatures.

Who or what inspires you?
I can't break that down to one or two persons or sites. My inspiration can come from a bowl of soup. I'm not joking, I'm just working on an idea I got from soup. Inspiration can be in a color, a shape, even a sound or a scent.

What's one thing you've never done you always wanted to do?
Craft-related? I would love to have a peek at lampworking.


Featuring artisan handmade creations by the Etsy Starving Artists jewelry team. SATeam members create handcrafted jewelry and beads. More information about our team and its current Etsy shop owner members can be found at SATEAM.etsy.com.