A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to participate in a rare and unique master's class taught by Vered Kaminski, in case you never heard of her, Vered is one of Israels most recognized jewelry artist, she has received many prizes for here work, and her jewelry are well-known around the world. The field of here work that draws me in most powerfully is obviously her work with wires, she explores other fields too, but this one is very special to my.
The name of the workshop is a bit difficult to translate, it is something between tapestry and woven. Important to mention is that the workshop took place in Kibutz Maabarot at Shirly Bar-Amotz studio, another accomplished jeweler, but that's for another post...
Vered started by introducing us with 3 major wire work techniques she has been exploring, the first was weaving with a zigzag or wavy wire, to create complex woven surfaces and 3D objects, that hold themselves together thanks to the waves. If this sounds easy , re-think ! :) it is super complex .
The second was interweaving wiht spirals, they are interwoven into one another in more than one dimension...
and the the 3rd that I bonded most with and continued with after the workshop was a more free wire twisting that can evolve as you progress and doesn't require too much planning ahead .... well, you could of course , but I prefer not too.
its a bit like champagne corks cages are made.
This was a 2 sessions workshop , which means it let us digest all that we saw and heard on the first session, try some of the things at home, and come back after a week to do more and ask endless questions ... which we did !
Because although everything seemed super clear and achievable when Vered demonstrated, suddenly at home I couldn't get it to work !!! I literally felt my brain burning, trying to recreate what seemed so understandably ...
as I mentioned before the technique I got most friendly with was the one that consists of wire twisting and loops, so as embarrassing as it is to present my attempts next to Vered's, I do want t show what i did , in this context .
here is a bit of what I made and is presentable ...
Black Swirl Bracelet :
Black wire Bracelet :
Wavy Bracelet :
Wavy Bracelet :
Star swirl :
Swirl :
Fibonacci Brooch :
Swirls :
Contemporary Hamsa / wall decorations ?
and the quest isn't over yet ....I feel a lot more is hiding waiting for me to be found behind these wires ...
You can read here an interview Vered gave to AJF about a year back .
