Looking Into Glass

In the posts I’ve made so far, I’ve talked about materials such as metal, vinyl,  gemstones, and crystals, but I haven’t yet talked about glass.

After seeing an article today about an opening of a new exhibit at the Art Museum of South Texas in Corpus Christi called Glasswear:  Glass in Contemporary Jewelry, it was clear that it’s time to talk glass.  In this exhibit, while most of the work can be worn, the focus is on the glass as art.

This string of huge beads spans the exhibit floor. According to an article in the Caller-Times by Dr. Elizabeth E. Reese, the beads are strung on black yachting rope, with knots between each bead. The installation was meant to have 32 beads, but only 28 were used because the weight caused the rope to stretch. This is a problem that jewelry-makers face when stringing and knotting on silk, only on a much smaller scale, of course. Photo by Todd Yates, reprinted with permission of Corpus Christi Caller-Times

If you have not spent a great deal of time at bead shows or in the company of serious glass bead artists, you may not be familiar with glass beads beyond those of the artisans of Murano in Italy.

If that’s the case, you might have missed the spectacular art beads produced in borosilicate glass by Tom Boylan:

I used one of Tom's beads for this pendant. Photo by Linda Castellani

Here’s another Boylan bead, from his website http://www.tomboylan.com:

No one works magic in borosilicate glass like Tom. Photo by Martha Bouquin

or the whimsical beads produced by the incomparable Sharon Peters:

Sharon has a skewed – in a good way – perspective on the world around her and finds ways to reproduce what she sees – real or not –  in glass.  One example is this egg bracelet, featuring whole eggs, sunnyside-up eggs, and a matching egg clasp.   For more examples see her website at http://www.smartassglass.com. Photo by Jim Trenkle.

Sharon and Tom work in traditional materials designed for glass beads.  According to the article about the exhibit in Texas, the glass used in the collection also includes found window glass, blown glass,  glass lenses, and laboratory glass, as in the work by Sandra Enterline shown here:

The glass tubes contain various found objects, but there is no doubt that this is jewelry. Photo by Todd Yates, reprinted with permission of Corpus Christi Caller-Times

Here are two other breathtaking examples of what can be seen at this exhibit.  Too bad I don’t have plans to be in South Texas for this; I’d love to see all of the 130 works in the exhibit.

This lighter-than-air necklace of blown Murano glass bubbles by artist Giorgio Vigna is called Gorgoglio. Photo by Todd Yates, reprinted with permission of Corpus Christi Caller-Times

This necklace by British artist Wendy Ramshaw is called Chain of Glass Tears for Weeping Woman. Photo by Todd Yates, reprinted with permission of Corpus Christi Caller-Times

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An Unexpected Partnership

My passion for high tech is equaled only by my passion for all things jewelry, and high on the list of jewelry things I’m passionate about is Swarovski crystal.  Most people who have heard the name Swarovski picture the exquisite leaded crystal sculptures for which the company has been famous for decades; a decidedly smaller group is familiar with the role that Swarovski plays in jewelry.  The variety of crystals available for jewelry designers is nothing short of overwhelming – in a good way! – and the company has been making them for so long that vintage collectors are equally as thrilled as new collectors.

Swarovski makes its own spectacular jewelry – spectacular with a capital Bling! – and now it has found a way to bring that bling into the 21st century by partnering with Philips technology on such ubiquitous items as USB Memory Keys, Headphones, and Bluetooth Headsets.  Yes, you heard me right.  Check these out:

This is one of the USB Memory Keys.  They come in three styles, including encrusted with crystals.  Below is the single crystal style.

The Heartware USB Memory Key is shown as a closed pendant in Vitrail Medium.

Heartware USB Memory Key opened, to reveal the USB plug. This Swarovski pendant has a 1GB capacity. I can't believe I just wrote that in a sentence.

Here’s another USB Memory Key pendant.

The Active Crystal Moonchrome USB pendant.

The Active Crystal Moonchrome pendant with USB plug exposed.

Two more pendants.

The Active Crystal Happy Laura pendant. Pull her head off to reveal the USB plug.

Here is Happy Laura's boyfriend, Naughty Raymond

Which brings us to Bluetooth headsets.

The Breeze Bluetooth headset comes in white or black, and has an over-the-ear piece and volume control. One of the crystals lights up to show that it's in use.

The earbuds are next up.

This is called the Amazone. The earbuds have crystals in them and the chain features a hook at the end to attach your MP3 device.

And finally, an example of the headphones.

This is called the Space In-Ear Headphone. It comes in three colors, and according to the description, "Listening to music will become your daily highlight as the sparkling crystals shimmer to the rhythm of your favourite beats."

There are other styles of headphones as well – see the URL link above – and so help me, I want some of these devices, but they range from $56 to $260 so I guess I will be admiring from afar for now.  And, just to make sure you don’t miss anything when you go through check-out, you can also buy Swarovski Belts, Binoculars, Keyholders, Mobile Phone Accessories, and Small Leather Goods.  Too bad Christmas is over and gone.  But, I do have a birthday coming up…

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