The Jewelry Architect: Techniques and Projects for Mixed-Media Jewelry

145 Pages·2010·18.65 MB·English

by  Kate Mckinnon

T H E
Crafts / Jewelry
COMbINE JEWELRY-MAKINg T
H
E J E W E L R Y
J
TECHNIquEs fOR sTuNNINg REsuLTs
E
includes W
A R C H I T E C T
instructional
K A T E M c K I N N O N
DVD
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Discover how to merge wirework, metal clay, beadwork, and traditional metalsmithing to L techniques + projects for mixed-media jewelry
create one-of-a-kind pieces of art jewelry. With The Jewelry Architect, jewelry artist Kate
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McKinnon guides you on a creative journey of techniques and projects as she uses a
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variety of materials and tools to create art gallery–quality bracelets, necklaces, and rings.
includes
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Plus, with the included DVD, Kate will instruct you on all the techniques needed to make instructional
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beautiful mixed-media jewelry. Watch and learn Kate’s tips on the best methods of DVD
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reinforcing beadwork, binding edges, stringing components, forming metal clay bands,
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and so much more. She will show you how mixed techniques and media can combine
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beautifully into original personal embellishments. T
E
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about the author T
Kate McKinnon is a mixed-media
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jewelry artist who lives and works in ixc
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Tucson, Arizona. Her work focuses dn
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on the engineering of how elements u
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work together, connect, and grow into ds
ia +
finished pieces of jewelry. Kate started je p
working in metal clay when it was first wr
o
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introduced in America, and her work le
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stands out in her field not only for its professional construction t
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but also for her focus on simple techniques and safe handling. f
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She won the prestigious Rio Grande Saul Bell award in 2005
for her innovative design, and teaches and lectures internation-
ally. Kate is the author of four other books on jewelry making, M
$26.95 / 10BD04 including Sculptural Metal Clay Jewelry. c
K
I
N
N
O
N
T H E
J E W E L R Y
A R C H I T E C T
K A T E M c K I N N O N
techniques + projects for mixed-media jewelry
Editor: Jean Campbell
Art Director: Liz Quan
Designer: Lee Calderon
Photo Stylist: Ann Swanson
Production: Katherine Jackson
Photography: Joe Hancock
Step Photography: Joe Coca
© 2011 Kate McKinnon
Photography © Joe Hancock
Step Photography © 2011 Interweave Press LLC
Video © 2011 Interweave Press LLC
All rights reserved.
This digital eBook is for your private use only. It is not authorized
for any other use, including copying and distributing to others.
Interweave Press LLC
201 East Fourth Street
Loveland, CO 80537-5655
interweave.com
Printed in China by Asia Pacific Offset Ltd.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McKinnon, Kate.
The jewelry architect : techniques and projects for mixed-media jewelry
/ Kate McKinnon.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-59668-176-7 (pbk.)
ISBN 978-1-59668-911-4 (eBook)
1. Jewelry making. I. Title.
TT212.M39254 2010
739.27--dc22
2010012421
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I have always wanted to be the kind of artist who takes the time
to talk to eager beginners about their work, and who freely
answers questions about technique or craftsmanship. I love
people like that. I carry the generosity of people who took this
time with me, particularly Allison Shock, Pamela Engebretson,
Gail Crosman Moore, Dustin Tabor, and Kate-Drew Wilkinson.
Special thanks go to my friend Scott Bartky, whose gentle
spirit and open intelligence helped me make sense of my own
obligation to always keep an eye out for an opportunity to do
my work more simply, elegantly, and cleanly. Scott lived by the
idea that one can have a caper-filled, exciting existence, be a
precise craftsperson, an eager student of life, a responsible
scientist, and also run your life and studio in a way that also
helps others. I miss you, Scott, and am grateful for the chances
I had to work with you.
CONTENTS
IntroDuctIon 07 StrIngIng 22 BEADwork 36
projects projects
ElEmEntS 08
24 Puck’s Bracelet 38 Corset Stitch Cuff
10 Clasps 28 Dragonflower Bracelet 44 Peep Cuff
16 Ear Wires 32 Victorian Button Necklace 50 Ouroboros Bracelet
18 Ring Findings 56 Riverbed Bracelet

66 Felt Cupcakes
70 Felt Leaf Necklet
wIrE AnD mEtAlwork 74 gAllEry 102 BASIc SkIllS 112
projects
76 Pearl Cluster
80 Ancient Chain
with Recycled Glass
84 Mechanical Chain rESourcES 140
88 Kaleidoscope Setting ABout thE Author 142
92 Cocktail Pod Ring InDEx 143
96 Treasure Boxes

INTRODuCTION
One of our most charming human traits is our love of orna- media. Jewelry seems to fill my creative urge in a variety of
ment and architecture. Since the days of the cave, we’ve ways. I love the smallness of it; it’s manageable and can be
been picking up shells and stones with holes, using plant and made in almost any type of space. I can incorporate painting
animal fibers for stringing material, and digging treasure out or photography, and I love the combination of precise and free
of the ground to ornament our bodies and dwellings. Most thinking that goes into making small works. So far, I’m content
other animals content themselves with nature as they find it; to work in miniature.
not us. We want to paint it, bejewel it, rearrange it, and sparkle
it up. Some of the ornament we make seems to spring from The projects in the book use a wide variety of materials, includ-
our very souls, and be about our need for mythology, religion, ing beads, metal, and wire, and showcase a variety of ways
or symbolism. Some springs from our desire to leave behind to make settings or to string, hang, or present your favorite
something of beauty, something that will survive us and ornaments. Whether we are working with beads, wire, metal,
continue to give joy or to impress the world with our magnifi- or felt, you can see the overlap in components, design, and the
cence, our generosity, or our wealth long after we are gone. principles of connection. Each way of making jewelry presents
Me, I just like to see how elements combine; I like colors, its own strengths and weaknesses, and I use them all, drawing
transition areas, connections, and joins. on what works best for the specific needs of each piece.
I am inspired by clever solutions, by clean connections, and When making a piece, my focus is on how to bring what I
by those who explore not only the edges of their creativity, but know about movement, connection, longevity, and presenta-
the limits of their materials. I am always looking for a better way tion to its design, and to further those aims, I work in any mate-
to do things, and like an octopus, or a bower bird, two crea- rial and use any technique that can help me.
tures that do share our love of bits and bobs, I am constantly
surrounded by small treasures and found objects that cry out to If there are techniques shown here that you haven’t tried your-
be set, hung, pierced, bezeled, or otherwise made wearable. self, or materials you haven’t yet played with, I encourage you
to experiment and perhaps add something new to your own
I find artists on the whole to be a very curious bunch, and repertoire as a designer.
almost everyone I know who makes art works in several
Recycled Bottle beads by Bronwen Heilman.
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ELEMENTS
I consider myself primarily a maker of components, an engineer of
connections. I spend most of my creative time making bits and pieces,
elements and sections and clasps, and only when the mood strikes do
I assemble them into finished pieces. Working this way gives me great
freedom as a designer, as there is little pressure to produce specific
results, especially those based on a fixed idea that I or someone else
had. When I sketch, or when I daydream about making things, I am
usually focused on things such as areas of joinery or small ideas for
engineering that grow into bigger ideas for finished pieces. My finished
jewelry is usually an illustration of some concept I had about movement,
structure, or an improvement on a common theme. Presented in this
section are some of my favorite essential components, each of which is
open to almost limitless variety and interpretation.
CLASpS EAR WIRES RING fINDINGS
1.1 SCuLPTuRAL S-HOOK 2.1 SIMPLE EAR WIRES 3.1 RIVET POST RING
1.2 REMOVABLE BALL-END CLASP 2.2 SCuLPTuRAL 3.2 WRAP RING
1.3 SIMPLE TOGGLE CLASP ONE-PIECE EARRINGS
Lampworked beads by Joyce Rooks.
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