Wear Art Now

Reusing human made and natural resources is a way of life for me and has been for as long as I can remember, be it wearing clothes and shoes from family members that had been handed down, or gathering pieces of wood and coal to be burned for cooking and for warmth. Reusing also meant recycling cooking fat, scrap metal and newspapers that were piled up to the second floor windows of my elementary school during WWII. And now, some 60 years later, recycling has caught the imagination of millions, young and old. For decades I have also chosen to recycle art, antiquities and ancient artifacts: Egyptian scarabs, African and Mexican fetishes, Roman intaglios, Japanese ojime, and Greek terracottas, to name a few. I strive to keep them out of the landfill of the mind with the by-products of my creativity and craftsmanship.

I have been a craftsman for many years, maintaining the culture and traditions of objects made by hand and linking with other craftspersons, ancient, modern and contemporary. Many of them have also worked with human made and natural resources as well as precious metals and antiquities, and who are also sensitive to their rarity, near extinction, or elimination from our fragile planet.

My first jewelry experience was when I was about 16 years old as a high school student and I have continued my love of objects made by hand to this day.

As a craftsman, it is essential for me to experience the creative process: to explore, to touch, to feel, to enjoy, to learn from and to give new life to the materials and objects that I have been entrusted with, because I am only a temporary custodian of the human and natural made environments. Other craftspersons like me are also in strategic positions to nurture them with our concerns and pro-active responses. With each piece I make, I desire to achieve a higher state of reality and consciousness of statement while striving to improve on each design and its execution. Symbolically this is synonymous with a strong desire to experience the return to the pristine state of our natural environment and to amplify the aesthetics of objects made by hand.

A few years after my first jewelry experience, I made a trip to Mexico, and later to Europe and Japan. I was fascinated with the jewelry collections of the major museums in Mexico, England, Russia, Spain, Portugal, Germany, France and Italy, especially with the jewelry in the Vatican Museum and the work of Benvenuto Cellini. In a subsequent trip to Turkey and the Middle East, I became familiar with ancient Egyptian scarabs, plaque seals, Byzantine cylinder seals and other antiquities in miniature. So, I began adding to my collection of miniatures, at first out of sheer fascination and later to incorporate them into my designs, as well as the artifacts of other cultures that I had previously collected during my travels to other parts of the world.

In many of my designs I incorporate artifacts of metal, stone, bone, ivory, wood, porcelain and glass; Japanese ojime beads, Mexican fetishes, Greek terracottas, and Roman intaglios, Byzantine seals and stones from Bactria, amongst others. The sculptures in miniature that I collected, and continue to collect, especially those with application to contemporary jewelry, are very challenging to me because of their unlimited design potential. However, in my earlier pieces, Egyptian scarabs fascinated me the most as a designer and presented the greatest design challenge because it was essential to show both sides of each stone I designed for. The scarab presented the widest latitude for my work because the combinations for innovative design are unlimited.

The simultaneous display of both the top and the base of the scarab presents a significant design challenge since both sides are equally as beautiful and demand that only the finest, most beautiful scarabs be used. Subsequently I made a design decision to work only with genuine, ancient scarabs, or stones and beads of equal significance. As a craftsman, I specifically chose not to use reproductions of antiques or antiquities and out of respect for the ancient craftsman, I chose to learn from their works, and not to replicate them.

By designing and making jewelry with antiques and antiquities, I maintain the culture and traditions of the ancient craftsman, and as a contemporary designer, making jewelry reminds me of my own heritage as an artist and as a designer. Since most of the antiques or antiquities are up to 3000 years old, I am challenged to design unique, one-of-a-kind pieces while maintaining the integrity of the artifact that I have selected to work with.

The completed designs make it possible for my clients to own museum quality antiquities mounted on precious metal such as gold, platinum or silver. Combined, they are still wise investments today. My contribution to the contemporary crafts movement is presented here for your enjoyment.

I can design and make jewelry for you using antiquities that I have purchased, or I can make jewelry using the stones or artifacts that you have acquired as a catalyst, or that have special meaning for you. Technology permits the contemporary craftsman to show work in progress, modify designs and work with the client in real time in a more personal and direct way. Prices on request for the jewelry shown and for commissioned work. I am also interested in buying back early pieces, completed before 1980 for a soon to be published book about my work.