Materials: sterling silver
Dimensions: 20mm diameter
A repository for emotions. One can keep inside a pearl, a precious stone, a treasured item or, even more precious, just memories.
Dan Adrian Baluta
Bucharest, Romania
Silver Morning Dew is the expression of Maria and Adrian Baluta. Hoping to bring joy and fun, we create pieces that invite you to find a moment of calm and relaxation in this fast paced life.
The story started in 2010 with metal shaping experiments and crafting exercises. We concentrated mainly on silver jewellery, while experimenting and combining with other materials like textiles, wood and gems. Being self taught artists, we had hard times, but also great rewarding moments while discovering jewellery making. After going through the forge of the Contemporary Jewellery School of David Sandu, things changed dramatically and we went up several levels in the game.
Now, in our new workshop, every day brings more light upon the delicate pieces that will shine in tomorrow’s eyes.
These containers and vessels definitely hold their place in the world of stunning art objects as well as in the world of metalsmithing.
Since the dawn of time humans have created containers to hold things that were important to them, from large vessels to hold food and harvests to intimate containers for small precious things. They might hold memories, ashes, medicine, beverage, fruit or food - but all spring from the imagination and skill of the maker. Some have specific religious functions, some are meant for everyday use. When one thinks of a vessel or container the inclination is to think of something with solid walls - yet many of these works involve the exploration of positive and negative space, and the use of negative space to help create the illusion of the wall of the vessel.
As the world’s largest jewelry related internet site, Ganoksin strives to develop exhibitions showcasing work from around the world. This exhibition was open to all metalsmiths, professional and amateur, advanced and beginner. Participants are from The Netherlands, the USA, Canada, Australia, Costa Rica, the United Kingdom, Israel, Hong Kong, Colombia, Romania, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Malaysia and Denmark. While most of the pieces are by an individual metalsmith, some are collaborations, one of three artists spanning 50 years.
In total 319 artists contributed 729 show pieces for the permanent online exhibition.
Objects in the exhibition include boxes, lockets, urns, ash containers, bowls, wine cups, reliquaries, match holders, vases, teapots, pitchers, sugar bowls, baskets, nests, pillboxes, clutches and a range of sculptural forms. A variety of techniques are showcased covering a wide range of metalsmithing techniques. Materials used include everything from gold and silver to less expensive metals. Ornamentation includes the addition of enamel, chasing and repousse’, gemstones and found objects.
The exhibition was curated by Beth Wicker, President of the North Carolina Society of Goldsmiths in the United States, and Adjunct Instructor at Northeastern Technical College in South Carolina. Director of the exhibition is Hanuman Aspler, founder of The Ganoksin Project, the world’s largest internet jewelry site.
