Hello friends

Thank you for stopping by.  Today I’m going to tell you a little about the class that I took at The Inaugural Event.  I was as happy as can be to finally have the chance to sit in Deryn Mentock’s classroom!    I had hoped for this for years actually, as I’ve been a faithful Something Sublime blog follower since my early days of creating jewelry.  Truth be told, wanting to take a class with Deryn was a huge part of my wanting to be a part of bringing nationally-recognized artists to the DC area.  Finally having this opportunity was one of those little  jewelry-dreams come true. 🙂

Classmates Maureen Baranov and Anne Savage

In Crowned Gems, Deryn demonstrated a wide range of techniques.  She taught everything from cold connections to working with annealed steel wire.  We worked with brass filigree, drilled, heat patinated and created metal staples (not as easy as they look!).   At the core of the class though were the precious tintype pictures.  As an avid antique and all-things-vintage collector, this really intrigued me. 

Deryn provided everyone with a small, postage-sized gem tintype.  We all eagerly opened our kits to see if we received a man or a woman.  By the way, tintypes were made on a sheet of iron, not tin as one might think.  For my project, I used a larger tintype that I brought with me, as the stately woman in the picture really moved me.  I’ll admit I’ve been somewhat hesitant to alter old photographs for jewelry design…. I’ve had mixed feelings about adding whimsical elements to them.  I have this feeling of wanting to be sure respect the person in the photograph, long gone and now unknown, remembering that this was someone’s child, mother, or loved one.  At the same time, I love that these pictures are no longer forgotten in a cigar box and are unearthed and treasured.  In Crowned Gems, I’m happy to report that all of the unearthed tintypes will now be loved anew.

Exploring design ideas with Pam Keravuori. Photo by Kerry Bogert

Working on the layout. Photo by Kerry Bogert

Look at that smile! Amy Powers tries on her finished Crowned Gem. Photo by Kerry Bogert

A round-up of student pieces. Photo by Kerry Bogert

This concludes my week of  recalling the ArtBLISS Inaugural Event.  Thank you for joining me !