Felt inlay plus: Michele A. Friedman

Michele makes lovely jewelry pieces inlaying felt in silver.  Here is a link to her Website and below is a short description of her work from her Artful Home page: 

 

Michele A. Friedman

“My intention is to create jewelry that is expertly crafted and empowers the wearer with a strong sense of self.”“There are limitless possibilities when designing jewelry with multiple geometric shapes. I enjoy the challenge of designing jewelry that is simple, but also complex. Achieving a balance between the two standards while keeping wearability in mind is my goal.   “One of my favorite metalsmithing techniques is marriage of metals, achieved by inlaying one metal into another, or soldering two different metals side by side. Fabricating jewelry utilizing this technique allows me to explore and achieve the graphic nature of my design aesthetic.” This looks like it would be very fun to wear!!

Velvet da Vinci: Cynthia Toops Felt Jewelry

 

There is a remarkable Jewelry Gallery in San Francisco called Velvet Da Vinci.  It is like a trip to the MOMA in New York but on a miniature scale.  We stopped by its new location on Polk Street the other day and saw these brilliant felted cuffs by mixed-media artist Cynthis Toops.

A bit about Cynthia from her WEBSITE:

Cynthia Toops – A Quick Biography

Cynthia has been working with polymer clay since the 1980s. While she is known for her figurative micromosaic pieces, in the last few years she has been concentrating on thin sheet work, creating the cone and claw necklaces and the rolodex series. Most of her work is inspired by ethnic jewelry and ancient beads which she and her husband collect. Cynthia has a BFA in printmaking from the University of Washington and a BA in Biology from Drake University. She spends long hours researching and planning work with Dan Adams, her husband and collaborator. Besides her jewelry work and teaching, she enjoys sushi .

 

 

Now that I know about her background in biology and her love of sushi-I can see some of both in these pieces!!  How tasty!