Inspired by Calder: Woven Pendants...

We've been gearing up at the Atomic Ranch with Calder-inspired pieces. I've been working in the background on various pieces. My hands are swollen and my ears are ringing as a result!

It's my hope to attend. I've been eyeing a pin-stripe vintage tailcoat and am dreaming of seeing Doriot and Joyce Rooks and Meryl. And... finally meeting Kyle Cassidy. Candice Wakumoto said she'd send one of her runway pieces to be photographed if I agreed to go. Sounds like so much fun – a confection of an event!

(It's only a dream at this point, but... hey, I figure if I put it out here, then it has more likely chance of happening.)

In the meantime, I am participating in the way that I can, creating pieces to be worn, sold, displayed and potentially gifted to the museum if they'll have it. Here is the inspiration, a wire-woven pendant by Calder:

photo from the Calder Jewelry Book

What I love about this piece and why it inspires me, is that there is an inherent rhythmic beauty of woven pieces... in and out... in and out. In Buddhist art, they would sometimes incorporate horizontal lines into the folds of the depiction of Buddha to provide a built in meditation tool for the monks or devotees to focus on. What also appeals to me is that it is a reliquary and holds what looks to be a tooth of a saint or a memento, suspended (quite literally) in time. Not to mention, I love baubles, especially hung on long necklaces.

Here's first my interpretation:

It's made of 16 gauge brass wire and 22 gauge bronze wire. I attempted to combine some the hammered arabesques with the wire-woven basket technique. I wired in a porcelain piece, which seems to glow, from Off Center Productions. I think it was a good first try and I might add dangles to the metal spirals that parallel the shape of the pendant. I am intrigued by the combination of hammered elements and the woven ones and am thinking of ways to use this to the best effect.

Here is my second interpretation:

I thought for this one that I would streamline it a little more, like the inspiration. I hung a beautiful, simple cut, quartz pendant that has the same shape as the bauble. I should have, in hindsight, dangled it more to take full advantage. Perhaps for another one I'll do it. I might also decide to make some filled with pebbles or other items; the basket-weave is surprisingly strong and won't let anything that's appropriately sized fall through the cracks.

I also made a really funky and organic crown. All of it is woven wire. I've still got a bit of work to do on it before it's done. In my mind, I'm going to wire on pieces of Roman glass and add hammered wire details. We'll see how it turns out.