St. Petersburg, FL- September 30, 2009- Jewelry and ceramic artist, Barbara Lewis, will be featured in the upcoming Winter Issue (December 1) of "Belle Armoire Jewelry," a popular U.S. and Canada jewelry arts magazine. In each issue, Belle Armoire Jewelry publishes select articles invited by the Managing Editors on jewelry artists who have developed unique design techniques. Barbara's beautiful torch-fired enamel jewelry was discovered this summer by the magazine's Senior Managing Editor Christen Olivarez while viewing photos of Barbara's "Jewelry of Distinction" at Flickr(www.flickr.com/photos/barbaralewis.)
A recent resident of Kenwood (December 2007), Barbara's undergraduate work began with the study of Textiles and Color Theory but she was eventually drawn to ceramics and completed her Bachelor's in Fine Arts Degree at The George Washington University. While recuperating from two rotator cuff surgeries caused by lifting heavy kiln shelves in her clay firings, Barbara began incorporating ceramics the "lighter art" of jewelry design.
As often occurs in the world of art, one thing leads to another and for Christmas 2008, Barbara was treated by her family to a one-on-one workshop with Joseph Spencer of Safety Harbor, the originator of multi-torch-fired enamel. From Joe's inspiring workshop, Barbara used her newfound skills as a springboard for developing an enameling technique for pendants and charms, which she incorporates into original jewelry designs. She then experimented with forging and etching metal to form one-of-a-kind bracelets, now some of her most popular jewelry purchases. Barbara explains, "With the more complex oxygen and propane torch mix, or even with a simple Mapp-gas torch, this open flame enameling process truly is painting with fire."
At the upcoming Second Saturday St. Pete "Art Walk" on October 10, 2009, Barbara will be doing hourly demonstrations of the torch-fired enameling technique beginning at 6:00 p.m. These demonstrations, as well as sales of Barbara's jewelry and her Nature Impression raku wall hangings, are part of the evening community "Oktoberfest Art Celebration" sponsored by Ric Castro and Mike Schnippering, owners of the JuxtaCenter Salon and Gallery, 2157 1st Ave. South, St. Petersburg. Also on display will be the work of other JuxtaCenter artists: Daphna Bowman (Jewelry), Zack Gates (Cement Water Fountains), Kyu Yamamato (Sculpture), Marc Grace (Photography) Mike Williams (Custom Graphic Maps), Andrea Pawlisz (Pop Art Paintings), Sean Dunn (Grafitti Art), Emily Page ("Dancer" Paintings) and Mike Schnippering (Oil Paintings). JuxtaCenter will also be sponsoring "Workshops in Torch-Fired Enamel and Jewelry Making" to be taught by Barbara, beginning in early 2010.
|
