If you live in or near Seattle and are in town and are a jeweler, metalsmith or just a gem lover, you will not want to miss this! A big garage sale for local jewelers and metalsmiths to buy, sell, and swap tools and supplies of the trade, what could be more fun? With over 20 vendors, you can also expect an excellent selection! 

NOTE: we have a new location. Fair Isle Brewing in Seattle has opened their doors for our event providing us with a covered outdoor area perfect for our Swap Meet! Note: Fair Isle Brewing is a 21 and up establishment. 

NEW: proceeds of sales from the Danaca Design table will be funding a new studio scholarship, The T.H. Artist Gap Scholarship at Danaca Design. 

In 2021, the Seattle metals community lost a true friend, Todd Hughes. Todd was a meticulous maker and passionate learner. He was also a lover of tools. Many of these have been generously donated to Danaca Design. Some will provide an upgrade to studio equipment and others will be available to purchase during our 2022 Jewelry Tool and Supply Swap Meet. Proceeds from the sale of these and all other items on the Danaca Design Swap Meet table will seed a new scholarship, The T.H. Artist Gap Scholarship. This scholarship, designed to supplement the cost of taking a workshop, will be available by application to students at Danaca Design beginning in September. 

Remember, there is NO CHARGE to attend the Swap Meet and you don’t have to bring anything to swap except some cash:)  Be sure to check out the FREE TABLE too. Who knows what treasures you may find! 

Looking forward to seeing you at Fair Isle Brewing for a long overdue swap meet, a bit of socializing and an exceptional beer if you’re in the mood! Also, plan to grab a bite from GARZON the Latinx Street Food pop up, YUM! 

Come early for the best selection. ALL VENDOR SPOTS must be reserved and are now currently taken. Sunday, July 24, 11am-2pm 

This week we opened a very special exhibition, Yukata Jewelry Show 2022. This exciting show is a creative collaboration between Okan Arts and Danaca Design. Vintage hand-dyed yukata cotton from Japan is the inspiration for the work in this second iteration of our Yukata Jewelry Show. The fabric, provided by Okan Arts, was sourced from vendors across Japan—antique shops, vintage warehouses, used kimono shops, and pickers. Danaca Design invited twenty artists from across the country to take the challenge—to design a piece of jewelry inspired by or made from this luscious and dynamic fabric. 

We will be posting pieces from the show this month on FB and Instagram but you can see the entire exhibition on our website now or COME VISIT US IN THE GALLERY SHOWROOM! The show is beautiful. If you haven’t visited the showroom yet, now is the time. We’ve never had so much wall space to play with in our gallery! 

View this unique exhibition is online and in the Danaca Design Seattle Showroom March 4-29, 2022 

Find Showroom info HERE! 

See the full Yukata Jewelry collection HERE. 

For additional information visit www.danacadesign.com 

Participating Artists: 
Angela Gleason 
April Ottey 
Carolina Andersson 
Cynthia Toops 
Dana Cassara 
DeAnna Puls 
Helen Cowart 
Jane Pellicciotto 
Juan Reyes 
Laurel Nathanson 
Maia Leppo 
Maru Almeida 
Megan Corwin 
Molly Epstein 
Nancy Bonnema 
Ronda Miller 
Tegan Wallace 
Vicky Zomenou 
Virginia Causey 
Yuko Tanaka 

ENTRY FORM IS NOW LIVE! Enter HERE.

Description: 

Battle of the Rings, otherwise known as the Ring Smackdown, is a head-to-head, tournament style, single-elimination juried competition and virtual event with a top prize of $500.  64 rings will be selected by two jurors and drafted into teams as selected by the jurors. Selected rings will be paired into matches for competition. Matches will be posted daily for exactly 24 hours, to our Instagram story for public vote, April 4-29 at 9:00am PST. Each ring can win up to three points in a single match. One is given to the winner of the Instagram poll; the other two points come from the jurors. The ring with the most points advances to the next round. All selected rings will be posted to our Instagram feed and available to purchase through our online gallery and Danaca Design Showroom.  

Rules: 

• One submission per artist
• The ring must be an original design created by submitting artist
• The ring must not exceed 4x4x4 inches
• The ring must fit fingers between sizes 5-10
• No restriction on the nature of material used or shape within above parameters.
• All selected rings must be available for purchase through Danaca Design Gallery 50/50 split; for the duration of the tournament.
• All selected rings must be shipped to Danaca Design and the artists will be responsible for return shipping if the ring does not sell.
• The retail price of the ring must not exceed $1,200
• Suggested entry fee of $5-$25

Deadlines: 

Submission Deadline: February 21, 2022 (Enter HERE) 

Artist Notification Date: February 28, 2022 

Rings Due to Gallery: March 15, 2022 

Competition/Show Dates: April 4-29, 2022 

Jurors: Elizabeth Shypertt and Jim Dailing

FAQ

Q: Can I submit and older ring?
A: Sure! Just not a ring that has previously been entered in the battle.

Q: Can I submit a ring from overseas?
A: Yes!

Q: Can I submit a multiple finger ring?
A: Yes! As long as it fit fingers 5-10.

Battle of the Rings: Ring Smackdown 2022 Jury

The jury has been selected for the Ring Smackdown 2022 and we couldn’t be more pleased! As always, we handpick a well-balanced jury to ensure an exciting and diverse mix of excellent rings for the competition. Representing Team Shanks will be Elizabeth Shypertt, long time gallerist, curator and collector of contemporary jewelry. Jim Dailing, a seasoned teacher and maker of exquisite fine jewelry especially rings, will head team Mandrels.

Read more about our jurors below!

Team Shanks – Elizabeth Shypertt

Elizabeth co-founded and ran Velvet da Vinci Gallery in San Francisco for 23 years. During that time, she organized more than 80 exhibitions including one-person and group shows. Working with other galleries and organizations including the British Crafts Council and the National Museums of Scotland, she curated and organized many traveling exhibitions, including Chess, Rings, and Anti-War Medals. The last show she curated at Velvet da Vinci was La Frontera, an exhibition about the Mexico/US border which opened at the Franz Mayer Museum in Mexico City. It was later on display at Velvet da Vinci, and at the Museum of Art and Design in New York City.

Since leaving the gallery, Elizabeth has curated jewelry shows for the Petaluma Arts Center in Petaluma, California, the Center for Enamel Arts in Berkely, California and for Shibumi Gallery, also in Berkeley. 2019 she curated a show of SNAG Lifetime Achievement Award Winner, Tex Gieling for the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco.

She has been a juror for the Emeryville Celebration of the Arts in Emeryville, California, for the Academy of Art in San Francisco among other venues and also for the publication, 500 Pendants and Lockets by Lark Books.

Elizabeth is a long-standing member of the local Metal Arts Guild and the Art Jewelry Forum and was a board member for both organizations. She is currently on the board of the Society of North American Goldsmiths.

She has recently taken a new position at the Museum of Craft and Design in San Francisco as Jewelry Manager for the Museum Store.

Team Mandrels – Jim Dailing

Jim Dailing has been designing and creating mostly one-of-a-kind engagement and wedding rings for clients from around the world for nearly 40 years.  He specializes in creating rings. Jim writes, “I love hands and how each hand is unique and because of all that hands can do, express and create.  I choose to create mostly engagement and wedding rings because of their importance to my clients and I’m drawn to the fact that my rings will be around long after I am gone.”

Jim holds a BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and MFA from the Tyler School of Art. He has taught at the University of Oregon, Oregon College of Art and Crafts, University of Portland, Central Oregon Community College as well as classes and workshops at schools and craft centers around the country. Currently, he teaches virtually and in-person workshops in stone setting, gold alloying and fabrication and wax carving.

Get to know the Danaca Design Gallery artists and their work by joining us on Instagram or Facebook for regular weekly features. Beginning the first week of August, we will highlight the jewelry and story of one artist from our gallery each week. Over the course of the week, expect to see multiple photos of their work, details about their artistic process and a few personal stories too. 

As it turns out this project will take us straight through to the end of the year! 

We hope you’ll enjoy learning a little more about our artists and the diverse collection in our unique gallery. Hopefully you’ll find a couple great holiday gifts as well! 

View the jewelry HERE.

Dear friends, 

I recently read a blog post by Betsy Brown: Update from an Epidemic, about the new buzzword “languishing.” Betsy wrote, “It can mean the blah, unmotivated feeling we are all having. Not quite depression but definitely not feeling joy. Languishing can also mean being stuck in an unpleasant place or situation.” I am definitely experiencing a little bit of that. How about you? Who would’ve thought, one year later, we would need a pick me up? 

Languish no longer! Join us next month for an exciting event, Battle of the Rings, otherwise known as the Ring Smackdown, a head-to-head, tournament style, single-elimination juried competition and virtual event. First conceived and produced in the spring of 2020, this event encourages creativity, comradery among artists and a passion for the art of jewelry, most especially THE RING. This year our esteemed Jurors, Cappy Counard and Kirk Lang, juried 64 rings from a pool of 166 submissions from 24 countries. The rings will compete in daily matches on Instagram, May 3-28. 

The guidelines for this competition are simple. The rings must be of an original design, fit within a certain size restriction, with a maximum purchase price of $1,200.  These exceptional rings are gold, plastic and everything in between. Some are perfect for daily wear; others are best suited for your art collection. MANY of them move, spin, spiral, flip, fly and shoot expressing an over-arching theme of play. Others are just simply magnificently beautiful, masterfully constructed or irresistibly precious. No two are even remotely alike. All 64 rings plus 9 alternates are available for purchase throughout the month of May, a wonderful opportunity for both collectors and participating artists. 

View, read about, and purchase ALL of the rings HERE

View ALL the matches HERE 

How to Participate: 

The jurors have “drafted” 32 rings each, onto their teams The Shanks and The Mandrels. Daily matches between the teams will be posted to our Instagram story for public vote EVERYDAY, May 3-28 at 9:00 AM Pacific Standard Time, up to four per day! 

All voting happens online, at the Danaca Design Studio Instagram account only @danacadesignstudio. Read about the rings first and then VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITES. Voting happens through our Instagram Stories for 24 hours. While in the app, tap our flower icon by our account name. This will reveal our current story and the daily matches. Pick your favorite rings in the match by tapping “TOP” or “BOTTOM” OR “LEFT” or “RIGHT” in the poll.  You can view the poll multiple times before voting but you can only vote once–one vote per person per ring. The winner of the Instagram poll advances into the next round. Click on the links in the Instagram post to view more pictures of each ring.  

This is a VERY exciting event. DON’T MISS IT! 

One Ring to Rule Them All; May the Best Ring Win! 

Until then we have ONE MORE Jewelry Trivia Night, THIS WEEK, Thursday, April 29 6:30 – 8:00 PM PST. Test your jewelry knowledge! Find all the details HERE

See our Current Class Listings HERE

Learn more about these events, up-coming classes and our tool and supply shop at www.danacadesign.com where we have been keeping it fun and creative for nearly 18 years! 

Dana 

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 draft 32 rings each onto their team. The selected 64 rings will be paired into matches that will be posted daily to our Instagram page and story, May 3-28 at 9:00am PST. The public will vote throughout the day for their favorite ring, the ring with the most votes, advances into the next round. All selected rings will be available to purchase through our online gallery and in the store-front gallery, circumstances permitting.  

Competition/Show Dates: May 3-28, 2021 

Esteemed Jurors: Cappy Counard and Kirk Lang 

View all 166 entries HERE.