Lark's Jewelry Book on earrings shows a truly stunning collection of contemporary jewelry in that venue.
The caption on the cover of 500 Earrings reads "New Directions in Contemporary Jewelry." This indeed is an accurate representation of what is contained in this book. A soft cover coffee-table type book, 500 Earrings delivers the goods: stunning images, a variety of form and techniques, wearable, interesting profiles.
Ninety percent of the designs showcased were constructed from traditional jewelrymaking material. Sterling silver, platinum, karated gold and all manner of precious and semi-precious gemstones are seen. The contemporary twist is the manner in which the traditional precious metals and gemstones are forged, fabricated and manipulated.
Artists Showcased
One noteworthy 'craft' type exception was artist Felieke van der Leest's ostrich earrings. These extremely clever earrings were fabricated from a plastic ostrich toy with crocheted yarn forming the ostrich's crown and the base from which the earrings hang from the ear. The ostrich head hangs upside down.
van der Leest also crocheted each ostrich earring its own little yarn house with the ostrich head popping up out of the top of the house. The whole presentation is very clever and cute. The earrings could definitely be suitable for street wear if combined with the right type of outfit and occasion.
A pair of Todd Reed raw and cut diamond earrings featuring his trademark rough bezel construction is shown on the front cover. His three earring designs shown in this book are instantly recognizable as Todd Reed designs, since they showcase arrangements of raw and cut diamonds in precise bezeled settings.
Another popular jewelry artist, Kristine Bolhuis, had three pages in the book showing her hand fabricated designs. Bolhuis is known for creating sculptural jewelry designs that are clean in appearance but also have the additional visual interest of being able to be manipulated into different shapes.
For example, many of her earring designs hang in open form but fold up or change shape when placed on a surface. This aspect of her designs turns jewelry into interesting little sculptural pieces for display. Many of her collapsible earrings are reminiscent of antique Christmas tree ornaments.
500 Earrings Cover to Cover
Alan Revere juried the collection of earrings that made the final cut. The book begins with Alan Revere's introduction, which gives his take on his selection process. This makes for very interesting reading for any artist contemplating entering a juried exhibition.
The book continues with the 500 earrings, each identified by artist, the year constructed and materials used. Quite a few of the designs also includes quotes from the artists giving insight into the origin and inspiration for the design.
500 Earrings ends with an alphabetical listing of each artist. 334 different jewelry artists representing countries from all over the world, were included in this book
Link to Amazon to find out more about 500 Earrings.
