I received the new Metalsmith Magazine last week and I have to say I
really enjoy it. I think the criticism voiced on Orchid was listened
to. SNAG and metalsmith are hopelessly academic, and I say that with
love. Suzanne Ramljak has overseen the inclusion of two new
departments to tie academia to fashion. The new department,“In
Fashion”, this edition written by Andrea Dinoto makes the case for
the influence of art jewelry on current fashion. To me and my work
the daring of art jewelry is always an inspiration, an ideal which
gives me freedom from Cad-Cam same-ness while I await the revolution
of hand work to re-appear. Hey, I can dream…
I buy into Andrea’s argument about the links between fashion and
look forward to more writing along these lines in Metalsmith.
The new department, “Look”, has guest observers showcasing pieces
deemed by the guest to be worth contemplation. OK, some of these
pieces are out there but that is SNAG’s focus, art jewelry. So I
will give “Look” further contemplation and appreciate that this
magazine is different than JCK and Instore.
My favorite article is the one on Tom Joyce by Malin Wilson-Powell.
I really do enjoy reading about artists who seem to have made it,
they give me hope. By “made it” I mean all the opportunities Tom has
received to expand and explore his art. It is encouraging to me that
a working class artist can have such opportunity and have an article
written about him with words like paradox and sentences like the
highlighted ones throughout the article. Malin’s writing takes
second to the story itself and I bet that academic types could enjoy
it just as much as I do. The reviews section is much appreciated and
Oppi Untrecht’s memorial as well.
I like this issue, I hope Metalsmith can keep it up. I hope to get
back to the SNAG conferences as soon as my kids are old enough to
leave along for that length of time, like 40 years from now. They
are my kids, after all.
Sam Patania, Tucson