It is incredibly difficult to work with recycled materials and have the end result be something chic and exciting without looking well,…plain recycled. But chic is exactly the outcome for the jewelry made by UK’s Emma Ware, who has meticulously made futuristic adornment from simple rubber inner tubes. Lovely work.

Interesting jewelry by designer Melissa Kolbusz, who uses waste from industry to construct wearable sculpture. Check out her website, Wired Resistance.

Salvaging components, such as colorful alternator wire, tubing and transistors, (wired) fashions one-of-a-kind and limited edition works with designs on the future. The color, texture, and malleability of the found materials guide the design of each piece and foster different compositional challenges than traditional materials.

Beautiful recycled porcelain jewelry by Sagen Sweden.

Andy Lifschutz exploration into metalwork began in Brooklyn with renowned designer Kristin Hanson, he further studied in Portland, Oregon with Gunnar Adamovics, it was under the tutelage of William (“Billy”) Thomas King at the Sterling Quest School of Jewelry Design and Creation (San Miguel De Allende, Mexico) that Andy made his greatest strides in metallurgy, graduating in 2008.

Each ring is made with recycled bronze, silver, and gold bases. (Recycled metals are made of scrap gold and silver that are refined for reuse.) Lifschutz tailors each base to reflect the stone sitting on it.

Lifschutz hand selects ‘sustainably sourced’ and naturally formed stones for their beauty, durability, and aesthetics. The gemstones are extracted from the earth with minimal environmental disruption.

Cast sterling jewelry inspired by nature by Lila Clare. The pieces are cast from the skeletons of prickly pear cacti.

When a pad of the Prickly Pear cactus dies, the pulp decomposes and leaves a wood-like skeleton. Using the lost wax casting process, each piece starts with a carefully selected section of Prickly Pear skeleton, which is then hand cast using recycled sterling silver.

Polish jewelry designer Pawel Kaczynski pays special attention to the design of closures and metal mesh in these unique sculptural pieces.

The Sword & Fern line by Emily Baker is an homage to northwest forests and mysterious passages. Emily’s current jewelry collection was created in the spirit of the beaches and forests she grew up amongst, using natural and found materials such as old recycled car parts, recycled glass, leather, bone, driftwood, vintage chain, rusty metals and shell. Available here.

UK’s Fanny Crenn incorporates portions of leather gloves, fabrics, ephemera, beads, and other found objects transforming them into one of a kind necklaces, bracelets earrings and brooches.

Her work layers memories of the past, colors, textures into small adorned stories. See more Crenn’s work at Les Bijoux D’Odette.

Amsterdam based, Finnish born contemporary jewelry designer Terhi Tolvanen is hands down my favorite. Her jewelry often incorporates wood pieces or other natural materials of gemstones and coral. Elevating the beauty found in nature, Tolvanen mixes forest branches of birch, hazel, rosemary, and heather with gemstones of agate, smoky quartz, aquamarine or ceramics.

Her textural work and color combinations are glorious! Inspired by mosses, fungi and toadstools that flourish on or near fallen trees she calls them the ‘jewelry’ of the forest.

Tolvanen’s nature love in her design shows the splendid beauty in the world around us.

]]> http://hautenature.com/terhi-tolvanen-contemporary-jewelry/feed/ 1 http://hautenature.com/firefly-handmade-boulders-first-indie-craft-show/ http://hautenature.com/firefly-handmade-boulders-first-indie-craft-show/#comments Wed, 03 Nov 2010 16:26:58 +0000 admin http://hautenature.com/?p=5706 continue]]>

So thrilled to be a vendor at the first annual Firefly Handmade indie craft show in Boulder this December. Yes, our little town is amazing for upstart businesses, so its a wonder the indie scene hasn’t taken off yet–but it will be impressive to say the least.

I will be showing some lovely collage art and various other creations.

The show will be a collection of amazing local talents from the Front Range area–check out the vendor list. There will be delicious food on hand from Dish Gourmet and arts and crafts to keep your little ones busy while you shop, courtesy of Clementine Studio who have a line of eco friendly art supplies.

If you are in Boulder during December 10,11, and 12th, do stop by and check out all of the handmade art and goods.