This essay was first delivered as a talk at SOFA Chicago in November 2010. Watching, Looking, Learning ‘And viewers like you.’ The title of this talk was stolen from the PBS sign-off to most of their programs. They thank various corporations, foundations and individuals and then they thank ‘viewers like you.’ They are expressing gratitude…
This essay was first delivered on a panel ‘Touch in Contemporary Art’ at the College Art Association, Los Angeles, in 2009, through travel funds provided by the Society of North American Goldsmiths. The paper was further developed into a lecture and presented at SOFA Chicago in November 2009 and subsequently presented at University of El…
This essay was developed from the lecture ‘Holding Objects: What It Means to Wear Jewelry: The Psychoanalytic Mechanisms,’ presented at the Facets of Meaning symposium at Tacoma Art Museum, June 28, 2009. A version of the talk was also presented at SOFA NY in June 2010. Marcia Macdonald, If You Sit Still … You Can…
Individuals have as many reasons to buy and/or collect objects as there are objects available. Jewelry is one of the more personal passions in collecting due to its connection to our bodies. After all, most objects cannot be presented to the world on a daily basis in such an intimate manner as jewelry. We present…
Elizabeth Shypertt is co-owner of Velvet da Vinci, a contemporary jewelry gallery in San Francisco. (The name was inspired by an old Perry Mason television episode.) She is also the outgoing AJF treasurer. Elizabeth recently answered some questions posed by Sally von Bargen. As always, her point of view is insightful and wonderfully light-hearted. As…
Homer, Alaska, is a fishing and art community near Bristol Bay. The vast and breathtakingly beautiful Bristol Bay ecosystem is home to immense fisheries, the world’s largest concentration of brown bears, massive herds of caribou and countless species of migratory birds. Homer is where jeweler and conservation advocate Rika Mouw lives. As Rika ends her…
In May 2007, Sally von Bargen interviewed Jo Lauria, a long time AJF member and previous board member. She is the chief curator for the touring exhibition Craft in America: Expanding Traditions and co-author of the companion book Craft in America: Celebrating Two Centuries of Artists and Objects. Cover, Jo Lauria and Steve Fenton (ed),…
Nancy Worden, Literal Defense, 2007, photo: Rex Rystedt How appropriate that a farm near Quilcene, Washington, now houses the Olympic Music Festival. It is on that farm that Nancy Worden lived her formative years. With a paper-bag lunch and instructions to ‘Go play! See you at dinner!’ Nancy was free to explore. She’s been exploring…
Giovanni Corvaja, 18 and 24 ct gold with 950 platinum wire, 10 X 10 X 4 cm Fast forward to California. ‘While I was living there, I took Christie Romero’s antique and period jewelry course. Christie is a wonderful teacher and guide and she introduced me to the American Society of Jewelry Historians, where I…
In 2007, Catherine Truman gave a lecture about her work at SOFA NY. This lecture was sponsored by AJF. For many years now I have been absorbed in the ways in which the human body has been depicted throughout medical history – particularly through illustration and three-dimensional models. I’ve pursued historical anatomical collections around the globe. Anatomy…
