Linda Adams

As a glassworker, I find the creative possibilities are endless.  There are so many objects, all filled with vibrant color and texture that can be produced.  My favorite designs are created with tack-fired glass, a kiln firing process that allows my work to have several layers of dimension, texture and transparency.

I create tiles, pendants, plates and bowls using the tack-fire method of melting glass.  This is really an exciting way to work with glass and requires a lot of glass cutting, grinding and shaping of small pieces to create an item that dazzles with color.  These pieces also need a lot of kiln time, often five separate times, twelve hours each time in the kiln.

Working with propane and oxygen torches to melt glass onto metal rods is another method I use.  As the glass slowly cools, it is released from the rod, fired in a kiln and incorporated into jewelry or other works.

My two newest pendant collections, "Mexican Windows" and "Las Puertas de Santa Fe" can be seen at my online store below.  A third collection, "Secret Gardens of Tubac" will be completed in the fall of 2009.

In addition to glass working, I also bead colorful necklaces, bracelets and earrings.  Turquoise and coral, blended with sterling silver from Bali, African opals mixed with intricate sterling silver designs from Thailand, Tibetan silver made by monks in the 1030's and old Afghanistan belly dancing pendants are only a few of the items I incorporate into my beadwork.

I especially love blending old heirloom pieces with new stones, and repairing or restringing old treasured pieces so they may be worn again.  My beadwork has been shown at Miller's Gallery and the Seattle Reparatory Theatre and Timber Creek Gallery, all in the Pacific Northwest.

My equestrian necklaces, or rhythm necklaces, are beaded using old belly dancing pendants from Afghanistan, non tarnishing silver plate, and old Tibetan silver and stones.  These necklaces are custom designed for horses to wear with new riders to establish cadence, but also are used for dressage.  My equestrian necklaces, which go around the horse's neck and clip onto the mane, have been shown and worn at the Northwest Evergreen Classic Show and Timber Creek, of the Northwest.

 

Visit Linda's "Glass Pond Studio"

 

Greg Souther

I have been working metal for nearly forty years.  I’m strongly influenced by both nature and architecture.  Over the past twenty five years I have shown my work at art festivals across the USA.  Recently I have switched my marketing approach.  My work is currently being displayed in Aspen, Colorado at Ingrid and Antoni Designs Gallery.

                                    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View Doug Souther's Creative Jewelry

 

 

Richard & Mara Speedy - Julio Pagliani Jewelry

I first heard the name Julio Pagliani around a crackling campfire deep in the heart of Mexico's rugged Sierra Madre, where I was photographing the Tarahumara Indians near Norogachi.  It was bestowed upon me by fellow wanderers of the Barrancas del Cobre.  I fell in love with the people of this remote village, reachable only by sometimes inaccessable dirt roads.  These quiet villagers were living largely by the light of oil lamps, cooking with wood stoves, and their struggle became my cause - to help them sustain their way of life, without having to leave their homes and families or even their country to find paying work.  So it's only natural that the resulting company be given the name bestowed upon me that fateful night.  In the years that followed, Pagliani's intricately crafted line of necklces and bracelets, finely crocheted in beads, pearls and gemstones, have been offered in some ot the finest shops and museums in the world.  Our elegantly sterling silver and 14k gold clasps and pendants feature distinctive motifs inspired by the natural world, designed and cast by Guadalajara jewelry designer Xio Auxiliadora.  With our extended family of Norogachi villagers master crafting Julio Pagliani jewelry, your purchase makes a positive impact on a village in real need.

                               

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visit Richard & Mara Speedy's Julio Pagliani

 

 

Regina Grabrovac

       I have always been attracted to the detail of traditional beadwork seen in both European and Native American work. I remember struggling with an instruction book and a few packages of beads back in 1986. I was determined to figure it out.

 

       Now, a member of Directions Craft Guild since ‘96 and having been a participant at numerous Maine retail craft shows, my interweaving of various sizes and types of beads (from sizes 10 to 16) and organic edges in a variety of earth tones creating naturally inspired images is my signature trademark. Nearly all work is in the traditional Peyote stitch for the body of the piece with several other stitches serving as embellishments.

 

       Technically my style is drawn from indigenous cultures and turn of the century European culture; my inspiration is linked to both my experience and to those of women who have beaded to celebrate their culture for hundreds of years. We have all used needle, thread and beads to express what is in our hearts.

 

                              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visit the Regina Grabrovac's "Woven Bead"