SILK BROOCHES

 From my large stash of ikat dyed silk yarn (some dating back to the early 80's when I first started making the brooches), I meticulously wrap and wrap and wrap. It takes me approximately 20 minutes to wrap each individual unit.  I use archival black core matte board and have my framer cut the board into an assortment of small shapes.

 
Once the wrapping is complete, I assemble the piece by gluing to a matte board backing and attaching a pin back.

 I can't tell you how much pleasure I get from creating these miniature works of art. The fact that I continue to produce a limited number of extremely labor-intense pieces (at an affordable price), speaks of a labor of love.

Still Too Busy to Blog

But not too busy to cook! I was invited to friends for Thanksgiving and decided to make a breadless dressing. I won't bore you with the entire list of ingredients except to say three of them: morel mushrooms, chestnuts, and wild rice.
I am mostly getting ready for my show "Where Weaving Meets Paper" opening Friday, but I had to take a little break and wrap some words. I'll tell you more about this project after the show.


And I had to whip up some more brooches as the stock was dwindling.


And poor Grace, the loom, has been sitting idle for weeks, and this project has been looming (so to speak)
It always feels good to drape warp chains over the loom. I will also tell you more about THIS project after the show opening.

Now that I have quieted the blog goddess, I can go back to the project at hand.

Silk Ikat Brooches at Hangin Art Gallery

The Killdeer Artisans Guild will present their Holiday Exhibit with an artist reception October 29th from 2-4 PM.

I decided to make some of my ikat jewelry. Below are a dozen brooches posing with a quarter in the lower left to give an idea of the actual size of the pieces.

I first started creating wrapped silk jewelry back in the 80's. Somewhere in the vast store of slide trays, I have many images of examples (to be scanned one day).

Each segment is wrapped in a manner I have perfected over the years.



I couldn't resist posing the jewelry pieces along with some of my woven images.


I can't decide whether or not the background adds to the effect or takes away from the piece.


Here they are mounted and ready to go. (except that I ended up taking the busy background away from half of them) I will see which ones are left over.


I only made a dozen as the space is limited in the gallery, but I am prepared to make more. If you are interested in purchasing these amazing little gems, please contact Hangin Art Gallery