Even the professionals were at a loss. "We risk burying this exhibition in a heap of superlatives," confirms Glenn Adamson, Victoria & Albert Museum, "In any context, this show would be a milestone." As example, he points to the "contemporary feel and timelessness" of Helen's jewelry, collected from the 1960s on.

AJF member Cindi Strauss serves as curator for this superlative exhibit, called Ornament as Art: Avant- Garde Jewelry in the Helen Williams Drutt Collection, which premiered at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH) on Friday, September 28.

AJF Houston trip planners Susan Cummins and Sally von Bargen didn't miss a beat - we were on the go, learning, seeing, doing, dining, exploring, shopping, collecting, and experiencing a variety of wonders in Houston. Here are some highlights:

We honor Pat Rodimer - At dinner on our first night in town, on behalf of all AJF members Sally thanked outgoing AJF board members Elizabeth Shypertt, Rikka Mouw, and Jo Lauria, and gave a special thanks to Pat for her service over the past nine years, seven of which she served as President. Pat has researched, planned, and orchestrated many AJF trips; edited the hard copy newsletter in earlier years; and created our website. She received a Ford and Forlano brooch in recognition of all she's done for AJF.

AJF gets a first peep, er, peek - Cindi guided us through Helen's collection the day before the official exhibit opening. After Helen, we were the first to see the completed installation, which dazzles us with its great use of light and the resulting shadows the jewelry creates-the suspension of necklaces and brooches in cases where you can view them from a variety of angles-and in the inventive use of mannequins (which Cindi admits she normally hates) to demonstrate clearly how certain pieces fit on the body. (Like that gorgeous collar of roses with a drop of dew by Gijs Bakker, ah, now I know how to wear it!)

And, we loved it. "It brought tears to my eyes, to see these pieces in person that I had previously only seen in books," says collector Susan Beech. "I wanted to rip those three gold and plastic rings by Claus Bury right out of the case."

Helen's "aha" moment - Cindi explained to us how she organized the exhibit, and she pointed out the specific Stanley Lechtzin brooch that started Helen's journey (her "aha" moment, as it were).

As you can see from the encyclopedic eight-pound exhibition catalog, a must-have for every serious jewelry collector (available from the MFA Houston at a reduced price of $90, see www.mfah.org, then go to "shop" and then "exhibition catalogs"), Helen's collection spans 18 countries and numbers more than 700 pieces.

Helen's collection also offers one common denominator that her dear friend Ann Tucker, curator of photography at MFAH, succinctly clarified for Helen and the rest of us, "Helen, your intelligence shows in every choice you made."

While this is true, Cindi needed to present Helen's collection in terms that would help both the knowledgeable and the neophyte understand and appreciate. Here's how she did just that-the exhibit begins with a chronological overview featuring key works, and then continues by examining three themes in depth:

• narrative impulses,
• the influence of 20th- century art movements on contemporary jewelry, and
• the role of the body and performance jewelry.

If you miss this exhibit in Houston, it will travel, perhaps to a venue near you - the Renwick (March to June 2008), the Mint, Tacoma, and a possible European venue. It will be back in Houston in time for SNAG's 2010 conference.

Meeting with Helen - the day before the exhibit opening, we benefited from some private time with Helen and a few of the jewelry artists whose work she has collected: Bruce Metcalf, Peter Chang, Robert and Louise Smit, and Peter Skubic.

Noting the genealogy aspect of Helen's collection - she bought from artist professors, and then from their students' MFA exhibits, and beyond - Robert Smit advises, "When you finish the school, you have to kill the teacher." Bruce Metcalf adds, "When it's been codified in the academy so that one can teach it, its moment is over." Peter Chang changes the subject, just slightly, "Just as music is art, so is jewelry."

We learned new terms - social jewelry is what Helen calls the jewelry made of precious materials worn on mainly formal social occasions. For Helen, an extremely important aspect of her collection stems from the friendships she developed with the artists-they became an extended family. In fact, more than 25 artists arrived from all over the world to celebrate this event with Helen - quite a tribute.

Why Houston? How did MFAH get Helen's collection? The answer is not easy to summarize, but it all started when Helen's friend Ann Tucker celebrated her 25-year anniversary with the MFAH, and Helen came to Houston for the occasion, and Cindi asked Ann if she could meet Helen. At that point, the MFAH jewelry collection consisted of one piece by Art Smith. So, Cindi's lunch with Helen was the first step in a long, wonderful journey.

What jewelry did Helen wear to the exhibit opening? A Claus Bury brooch.

Amazingly enough, we didn't spend all our time at MFAH. We watched the sun set slowly and dramatically at the James Terrell installation at the Quaker's Live Oak Meeting House - we toured the Project Row Houses and met the Flower Man - and we appreciated the Menil collection as well as jewelry artists Diane Falkenhagen, Sandra Zilker, and Jan Arthur Harrell, who were featured at Goldesberry Gallery, and we benefited from a private tour with curator Francis Marzio of the MFAH's Glassell Gold Collection.

One of the most memorable, and educational, aspects of the trip was the symposium held before and after the exhibit opening. Speakers included Helen Drutt; curator Cindi Strauss; Glenn Adamson, Victoria & Albert, London; Grace Cochrane, former senior curator, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney; and Sharon Church, studio jeweler and professor, the University of the Arts, Philadelphia.

Did I mention food? No? Well, it would be too cruel for those of you who were not there. Let's just say we did toast Sharon Campbell for her excellent restaurant choice of T'afia even though she wasn't there to enjoy it.

It was a trip! We were jockeying with secret service people and the president of Ethiopia to get out of our hotel some mornings, and we certainly caused a stir at some stops with our adornment, and yet it seems that a good time was had by all.

"I went kicking and screaming into a great trip and art jewelry experience," says Ron Porter of his first AJF trip. "Next time," he predicts, "I will go peaceably and with enthusiasm!"

Please do come join us next time - peaceably and with enthusiasm, it's really a great way to travel and learn in good company.

Andrea Janosik of Brooklyn, New York, received the AJF's Emerging Artist 2007 Award along with a $2000 cash prize. Nancy Worden headed the judging committee, which also included Harriete Estel Berman and Jean Mandeberg.

Andrea was also honored earlier this year with an Award of Excellence from the American Craft Council, Baltimore, MD.

She earned a BFA in product design/metals and a BA in creative writing from Parsons School of Design, New York, and also studied at the New York Studio School for Sculpture and the Lern Ort Studio in Duesseldorf, Germany.

Born in Slovakia, Andrea lived in Zambia and Germany before coming to the United States to complete her studies. Her work has been featured in the Schmuck 2006 exhibit in Munich, Germany, and at the Museum of Arts and Design, New York.

"My fascination with combining leather and silver has only grown over the years," Andrea says. "Their contrasting qualities-soft and hard, pliant and sturdy, colorful and achromatic-create challenges, but also endless possibilities. Squeezing, stacking, pulling and rolling one into the other lets me explore and discover yet new ways of holding them together."

At SOFA Chicago on Friday, November 2, from 11 a.m. to noon, in Room 309, AJF will introduce our 2007 Emerging Artist Winner Andrea Janosik followed by our featured speaker Dutch artist Gerd Rothmann, whose talk is entitled The Space Between Thumb and Forefinger. Gerd's work will be presented at SOFA by Ornamentum and Andrea's work will be presented by Charon Kransen Arts. For more information about SOFA. Visit SOFA online using the "Quick Link" to the right.

AJF will also host a wine reception at SOFA from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on Friday, November 2, for AJF members and their guests.

From November 8 to 11, the Philadelphia Museum of Art hosts their 31st annual Craft Show at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Featuring 195 craft artists (53 new to the show this year) selected from 1,380 applicants, plus 26 guest artists from Canada, you'll find at least 45 booths featuring art jewelry. See www.pmacraftshow.org for more details, sample work from each artist, and information about the craft show auction.