[Welcome] New Members for December 3, 2013

Please welcome our newest members…

Toby Santangelo
Palm coast, Florida. USA

entry level jeweler, engraver.

Valeria Martinez
Strathmore, Canada

My interest in the history and tradition of using cow horn in the
creation of artwork started about 15 yrs ago, and continued to grow
as I kept researching in libraries and archives. I sought out my
mentor, a remarkable artisan who revealed to me the secrets of
working this exceptional organic mate rial.

The techniques involved in working the horn are very old. Indeed,
horn has been referred to as the plastic of the Middle Ages.
Unfortunately, these techniques are now something of a lost art.

Discovering the colors and patterns behind the rough surface of the
horn never stops to amaze me. You never know what you are going to
find and even in the last step of buffing the piece new colors and
strikes appear like magic.

It is these which make even simple items elegantly beautiful, and
elevate the jewelery pieces to the status of unique art.

I get lot of inspiration from tribal cultures, art deco and nature;
I have a line of jewelery based on flowers, leaves, feathers shapes
or simply abstract curvy lines. But I also love to play with
geometrical shapes and symmetry. I enjoy breaking the rules and
create bold asymmetrical designs for that unique piece. I don’t like
to be trapped in only one style and love to explore and experiment
with different themes. This allows me to always push the limits and
no t fall into routine.

No paint or varnishes are applied to the horn. The shine and
different colors of the final product are natural characteristic of
each horn.

Our raw horns are sourced from renewable resources, it’s recycling a
’waste’ product from the meat industry and as a result preventing it
from ending up in landfill.

I like to think of my jewelry as a unique and ecological piece of
wearable art.

Judy H Morgan
Seattle, Washington. USA

I am a Seattle based jewelry artist. My work is inspired by astronmy
and mid century modernism. I favor geometric shapes and balanced
asymetrical designs. I have a passion for cats and love just
everything about them.

Meryl Ann Freedman
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. USA

I am a semi-retired teacher who has been making metal jewelry for a
few years, when I have time. I am hoping to develop my skills to
market my work when I fully retire. I began doing polymer clay work,
but felt like metals would make it look more polished. I took a
metals class with the intention of adding it to clay, but I loved
the process of working with metal and have been learning to work in
metal ever since.