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A Challenge with Rewards: Ring Smackdown 2020

Battle of the Rings Call to Artists
Battle of the Rings Call to Artists

Do you have a little extra time on your hands or need a distraction from our current global crisis or just need to GET AWAY FROM YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN?! A small team at Danaca Design has created a challenge for you. Well, actually a competition with a cash prize!

Battle of the Rings is a head-to-head, tournament style, single-elimination juried competition and virtual event with a top prize of $500. Two jurors will select up to 64 rings.  These rings will be paired into matches and posted to our Instagram story at 9am (Pacific), every day in June. The Ring with the most points moves onto the next round. The last ring standing will be crowned, the RING KING! HAHA, ok we haven’t actually discussed the title yet! But the main point is they win the money.

Our esteemed jurors this year are, Anika Smulovitz and Andrew Cooperman. Learn more about them below!

This competition was 100% inspired by Saltstone Ceramics’ Mug Madness. It looked like so much fun I thought we should give it a try! Details are below and at www.danacadesign.com. If you don’t have a home studio this might be a great time to get REALLY creative!

PLEASE SHARE THIS!

Battle of the Rings or #RingSmackdown2020: One Ring to Rule Them All

Rules:

  • One submission per artist
  • The ring must be an original design created by submitting artist
  • The ring must fit within a USPS, small flat rate shipping box with enough padding to ship safely.
  • The ring must fit fingers between sizes 5-10
  • No restriction on the nature of material used or shape within above parameters.
  • The ring must be for sale: 50/50 split; all selected rings will be available on the Danaca Design Online Gallery for the duration of the tournament and circumstances permitting, be part of a special exhibition in the Seattle studio gallery.
  • The retail price of the ring must not exceed $1,200
  • Suggested entry fee of $5-$25

Deadlines:
Submission Deadline: May 1, 2020
Artist Notification Date: May 8, 2020
Rings Due to Gallery: May 15, 2020
Competition/Show Dates: June 1-30, 2020
Enter the competition HERE!
And may the best ring win… 🙂

 

Battle of the Rings Jurors

Anika Smulovitz

Anika Smulovitz is an artist, metalsmith, and Professor of Art at Boise State University. Smulovitz served on the Board of Directors of the Society of North American Goldsmiths (2009- 2012). Smulovitz’ work is exhibited nationally and internationally, and appears in numerous publications. Her work is included in the permanent collection of The Jewish Museum in NYC, has received a Niche Award and she also holds a US Design Patent for her Lip Liners. She received her MFA (2003) and MA (2001) from University of Wisconsin-Madison, and her BFA from University of Oregon (1997).

Andy Cooperman

Seattle metalsmith Andy Cooperman makes all sorts of things from all sorts of things and is known for applying the rigorous craftsmanship of fine metalsmithing to a wide variety of, often disparate, materials.. He has been a jeweler and metalsmith for over thirty years and a writer and educator for close to that. Andy especially loves making rings—rings of all kinds– from wedding bands to rings sporting nine-inch porcupine quills

Andy teaches and lectures around the country as a visiting artist, seminar and workshop instructor. As an ordained minister in the Universal Life Church, he is also available for parties, bar mitzvahs and weddings.

 

 

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Keeping it Small, Local and Clean

support small businessDear friends,

It feels like the world is going to hell in a hand basket, or maybe a basket of disinfecting wipes…none-the-less we must carry on, with extra care and diligence of course. In light of the ongoing developments of Covid-19, Danaca Design is taking steps to maintain a healthy environment physically, mentally and emotionally.

This is what we are doing:

Cleaning, a lot. Yep, don’t be surprised if the studio smells like a swimming pool when you come to class. It’s refreshing. Feels like summer!

We are also restricting our already small classes to an even smaller number, giving each student a healthy amount a breathing room, literally, with never more than 10 in the room including the instructor.

Most importantly, we are asking you to stay home from class if you have a sore throat, a cough or fever. We have extended our class cancelation policy to a last minute drop-out, so if you will not be attending, shoot us an email and we will send you a class credit to be used in the future, which we all hope will be brighter.

No doubt there will be some scheduling changes, especially with our visiting instructors who might prefer to stay put rather than travel to our area. Can we blame them?! That being said, we are super lucky in Seattle to have a plethora of local artists to study with, some of the best in the country.

Lastly, we are researching additional learning options including increased one-on-one instruction and online tools in hopes of offering distance learning to those of you with a space to work at home.

This small business genuinely appreciates your support and hopes to see you over the course of what will likely be a challenging time. However, it is important to keep up your spirits and for me nothing beats a creative day in the studio.

Please stay safe and calm and clean.

Dana

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Annual Tool and Supply Swap Meet

Annual Tool and Supply Swap Meet

Sunday, March 8, 9-12

Looking for quality used precision tools? Gemstones, miscellaneous jewelry or art supplies?  This swap meet is basically a big garage sale for local jewelers to buy, sell, and swap tools and supplies of the trade! There is NO CHARGE to attend and you don’t have to bring anything to swap but definitely bring some cash:)  Be sure to check out the free table too! Who knows what treasures you may find?

See images of some of the offerings at the swap meet on our Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/578232459573716/

Classes, Specialty Workshops

Jeanie Pratt – Designs in Woven Metal

 

Visiting instructor Jeanie Pratt will be teaching a woven metal class in September, we’re really looking forward to it. Great opportunity to incorporate something new into your work!

Designs in Woven Metal
Jeanie Pratt
September 20-22, 2019
Friday – Sunday, 10:00 – 5:00
$490

Find more info or register here: https://wp.danacadesign.com/classes/designs-in-woven-metal/

 

 

Jeanie Pratt – Artist’s Statement

I delight in the magical surrealism of reality in nature. My designs are informed by studies of entomology, and life sciences, as well as experiences while living in the tropics and the desert. I savor researching and revisiting the realm of anomalous plants and animals. With this comes the humble reminder that we are just one species in a multitude of interdependent creatures. We are defined as human beings by our need to create personal adornment and art. I feel a connection to a continuum of artisans as I pursue the possibilities that emerge from within me.

As a fiber artist now working with metal; I find that after 30 plus years, I am still striving to turn straw into gold. The textile patterns and textures fixed into the metal evoke memories of the traditional textiles and basketry encountered while living abroad. Translating fiber techniques into silver, gold and copper continues to fascinate me. With a weaver’s eye for color, I explore the processes of applying patinas and enamels, as well as incorporating gemstones and beads into my work.

In the solitude of my studio, I lose myself in time through detailed labor-intensive and historical processes. As I meld my lifelong interests, I endeavor to create exquisite and timeless pieces of jewelry and sculpture. This counterbalances the often irresolvable challenges encountered in my daily life. With passion and joy, I continue to push my own limits as well as the limits of the techniques and materials.

Community

Featured in Jewelry Artist Magazine!

We’re featured in a cool article about creating a maker space in the March/April 2019 Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist Magazine! Pick up a copy to read about Danaca Design and other spaces that cater to artists, jewelers, and makers. We’re pretty excited about it, we even made a SHORT! little video.

Community

Challenge Yourself

Last year I (and several others in the studio) took part in a national jewelry making challenge, the 2018 Earring Challenge. The goal was to make 52 pair, one pair each week, and to post a new pair every Monday on social media. It could have been very simple but I added a few more parameters. For me personally the challenge was to make a unique pair of interesting, light weight earrings from materials I already owned. It was a perfect challenge for me; it got me into the studio regularly, forced me to be decisive and to finish projects. Every pair I made is below.

This year Danaca Design wants to challenge you! Our challenge (should you choose to accept it) is titled Charmed 2019. The goal is to create a minimum of one unique charm per month to be added to a bracelet (or necklace), to be presented in a show in the gallery at Danaca Design in 2020!

The Rules are basic. You must fabricate your charms (no prefabricated, purchased charms). You may use any materials or process. Each bracelet must have a theme, conceptual or technical, with each charm somehow relating to the others. If you would like to participate simply start. Please post your images to social media using the hashtags #charmed2019 #charmbraceletchallenge #charmbracelet2019 and tag Danaca Design so we know when you post.

We’ve started a Facebook group for images and discussions: charmbracletechallenge2019.

Check out Wikipedia for some inspiration: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charm_bracelet

Looking forward to seeing what we all come up with!

Community

Traveling Tiara Show

Crowning Glory Tiara Collage
Crowning Glory Tiara Collage

Happy New Year!

Back in February 2018, oh my, so long ago…Danaca Design hosted a fabulous show in the gallery, Crowning Glory: Ruling our Destinies, Directing our own Paths. This exhibition of crowns and tiaras was bold, creative and downright fun! I’m sorry if you missed it but you might be in luck – our tiara show is traveling to Greenville, North Carolina!

Chief, Queen, Tsar, Kaiser, Monarch, Caliph. The words conjure images of power and pageantry, impressive jewels, and imposing headdresses, crowns, and tiaras. Throughout history ruling over others usually meant belonging to the “right” family and class—and displaying the associated bling that demonstrated with sparkling intensity their wealth, power, and good taste.

Crowning Glory will be on exhibit through January 24 at Pitt County Arts Council at Emerge in the Don Edward Gallery. This non-profit arts organization is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in Pitt County by promoting artists and arts organizations, educating through the arts, and making the arts accessible to the entire community.

This wonderful opportunity came to us as part of an inspiring symposium hosted annually at East Carolina University, the ECU Material Topics Symposium. I’ve never attended this event but have heard it’s a good one, something to add to your calendar. This year’s theme is “State of Adornment: Subject to Change,” and it’s this weekend! Find the detailed symposium schedule here: https://materialtopics.com/2019schedule/

There is a reception ECU Material Topics Symposium reception for our show Friday evening, January 18, 6pm -8pm.

Learn more at http://www.pittcountyarts.org/gallery/current-shows

Mixed Media

Make Your Mark!

Necklace, Jan Smith

Image and Mark Making in Enamel with Jan Smith

August 17-19 at Danaca Design

“I love the diversity and seductive qualities of the enamel and enjoy sharing an understanding of the material with students. I begin with a simple sketch, using the enamel as a printmaking or drawing medium, I work rather intuitively allowing the work to evolve. There is an element of assemblage or evolution in my process and composition, and I am excited about the imperfections in the surfaces.” -Jan Smith

Pendant, Jan Smith

With her decades of experience as a printmaker and jewelry designer, Jan Smith has a remarkable amount of expertise creating various compositions in enamel with a wide range of techniques. Her illustrative approach is translated into botanical and natural forms as well as more abstract and modern designs that rely on linear detail, diverse layers of color, and fine execution.

Necklace, Jan Smith

Over three days in August, Smith will lead students through a broad range of techniques to develop exciting surfaces. With sgraffito, students can create multiple layers of contrasting color by scratching or drawing designs in a top layer of enamel allowing the color beneath to show through after the piece has been fired. Through multiple layers of opaque or translucent glazes, different effects and levels of depth in the piece can be achieved. Underglaze pencils and watercolor techniques allow for more intensive detail and line-work, as well as intriguing color-play evoking greater subtlety and depth in the designs. Over-glazing in translucent or clear finishes can achieve unifying effects and protect the piece. Ultimately this workshop will open a whole new world of detail and depth to every students enamel work.

Work by Jan Smith

In Image and Mark Making in Enamel, Jan Smith takes the time to explain how each method can work with the others to build distinctive pieces. Students create prototypes of each technique, getting a feel for each method’s possibilities, and then create a series of pieces that can be incorporated into their jewelry. Armed with new knowledge, tools, and enamels, practitioners will have an entirely new narrative with which to compose pieces and images to “make their mark”.

We can’t wait!

Classes, Specialty Workshops

Low Tech Casting

Student pouring metal!

Sometimes the old ways are the best. The first weekend in August silversmith and jeweler Juan Reyes will take students through several casting techniques that have been used for millennia in, Low-Tech Gravity Casting. Not only are they tried and true, these methods also use a minimal amount of equipment, and can be easily reproduced in a home studio, or even in your backyard.

Cuttlebone cast ring shank

Juan will guide students through various mold making processes and approaches. Whether it’s sand casting found objects, such as twigs or buttons, exploring the unique textures of cuttlebone, or carving your own molds in tufa stone that you can reproduce time after time, this two day casting class opens novice and experienced jewelers alike to this fun and rewarding sculpting method. It is also one of the best ways to use your scrap silver!

Low tech casting bits, samples, and experiments

With his expertise and enthusiasm Juan Reyes brings warmth and creativity to every class he teaches. He recently took the time to answer a few questions about his work.

What got you started in metal smithing and jewelry making?
My family has several jewelers in it. As a child, jewelry was something that I didn’t want to make when I was living with them.  When I came to Seattle, I realized that I was missing that part of my family.

What do you like best about casting pieces?
One of things I like about a casting a piece is that once you made the first piece,  you can make a mold and make as many as you want.

Do you have a favorite casting method?
Sand casting is my favorite method. It’s easy for me, because you just have to have something to print into the sand, then you close the mold and pour the metal. However, at the end of my class everybody has their own favorite method.

What are the biggest challenges new learners might have in this class?
The big challenge that I notice in my class all the time for my students, is learning to be comfortable with a big torch and pouring the metal into a mold once the metal is melted.

Do you have a favorite casting material?
Silver is my favorite metal to work with. Silver is very forgiving, you can melt and reuse it many times, that’s why I like it.

Melting metal!

Community, Gallery Event

Crowning Glory Series: Ancient History from Diadem to Tiara and Crown

This coming March Danaca Design will be hosting a show featuring tiaras and crowns in many forms called Crowning Glory: Ruling Our Own Destinies, Directing Our Own Paths. While the artists will be exploring the diverse cultural, artistic, historic, and social narratives of these accessories April decided to look into the history of these royal accessories to use as a post on the Danaca Design blog. It turned out to be a fascinating subject so instead of making one post she turned it into a four part series being posted every Monday in February leading up to our show opening and reception on Friday, March 2, 6-8:30pm. This week part 1 is focused on the ancient history of tiaras and crowns.

Tiaras, crowns, these head ornaments have been used for centuries to symbolize social superiority and power, have a history going back to ancient Egypt and Greece. Originally these head pieces were called a “diadem” derived from the Ancient Greek “dia dein” meaning “to bind around”. The ancient Egyptian pharaohs would wear gold head-bands that could be decorated with tassels and other ornaments that hung over the forehead, temple, or even down to the shoulders.

An excellent example of this is the diadem discovered in the tomb of Tutankhamun, King of Egypt in ca. 1339-1329 b.c.e. (pictured above) Discovered during the excavation of his tomb in 1922 the kings mummy was adorned with a gold diadem formed in a circlet, at the front a detachable gold ornament with the head of a vulture and the body of a cobra, symbolizing the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt. It is also inlaid with glass, obsidian, carnelian, malachite, chalcedony, and lapis lazuli.

In Ancient Greece diadems were made from all kinds of metal, and with a limited amount of gold available, Greek metalsmiths would decorate them with embossed rosettes, filigree, and other motifs such as the Heracles knot which was found frequently in Hellenistic jewelry. Once Alexander the Great opened up the gold supply from the Persian Empire in 331 B.C.E. the styles became even more elaborate and often contained intricate garlands of tassles, leaves, and flowers.

The shift from diadems as just a circular band to what we now consider tiaras and crowns today is attributed to Ancient Persia, now Iran. The original term “tiara” is Persian in origin and in its original form describes the high peaked head decoration worn by Persian kings. However in ancient Persia crowns were worn in many forms and ancient authors did not always distinguish clearly among the various terms for them, making the most reliable evidence for forms of Persian crowns/tiaras are the depictions on objects such as monuments and coins.

Kings from the Achaemenid period wore tall and serrated golden crowns, called a crenelated crown, which was adorned with gold leaves and colorful jewels. The 22 or 24 serrations of the crown symbolized towers, battlements, temples, or the Sun. The Achaemenid queen wore a jeweled crown with a thin piece of cloth reaching her knees attached. Based on historical documents it seems that the only difference between the King and Queen’s head wear was the thin cloth.

However it was not just the royal Persians that wore head covers to denote status in society. From writings by the ancient Greeks it appears that a tiara was a soft headdress often with a high point and members of the Median upper class wore these high, crested tiaras. Median civilians and officers covered their heads with round and soft egg-shaped felt caps which were decorated with lace. Ancient reliefs depict archers with these caps and a crenelated diadem worn over them. Upper class Achaemenid women wore long headscarves some reaching down to their ankles. This shawl-like headdress was not wrapped under the neck but was usually worn with a diadem on top very similar to many popular bridal veil styles worn today.

Well that wraps up part 1 of this 4 part series. Honestly it is really hard to figure out when to stop because their is just so much fascinating history but if you want to check out more really cool pictures of ancient diadem, crowns, and more I suggest going to The Metropolitan Museum’s website at www.metmuseum.org where you can browse their entire collection online.

Check back next Monday to find out about the crowns and tiaras of south and east Asia…I can’t wait.