Originally titled “500 Rings” this Lark Jewelry book project
authored by Marthe Le Van was intended to be smaller. A call for
entries yielded so many excellent images, that the book was expanded
to accommodate the extra submissions. This book is a visual delight
and a testament to the creativity offered by jewelers and
metalsmiths who celebrate the hand. At only $10.01, this is a deal
that shouldn’t be missed.
1000 Rings: Inspiring Adornments for the Hand
By Marthe Le Van
Karen Christians
M E T A L W E R X
50 Guinan St.
Waltham, MA 02451
Ph. 781/891-3854 Fax 3857 http://www.metalwerx.com/
Jewelry/Metalarts School & Cooperative Studio
The new book “1000 Rings” by Lark Books arrived yesterday and it is
awesome. It is not meant to be instructive but the images will set
your imagination on fire. Bravo to all of those who made this book
possible.
1000 Rings: Inspiring Adornments for the Hand
By Marthe Le Van
The new book "1000 Rings" by Lark Books arrived yesterday and it
is awesome. It is not meant to be instructive but the images will
set your imagination on fire.
Cathy,
Sorry, I have to disagree with you to a very great extent. Most of
the images I saw were of hideously shaped rings, large with
protuberances and unfit to be worn on a 24/7 basis, let alone for
more than a few hours, at best. Granted, many of the designs and
techniques provide food for thought.
However, the rings I produce are made for the “less elite”, those
desiring a simple, reasonably priced, well-made ring to wear
continuously on their finger for their entire life. These “less
elite” allow me to make a rather good living. My father, rest his
soul, long ago taught me to provide quality at a fair price, no
matter what you do - I, to this day still live by his maxim. It
works for me - I don’t advertise or use a website. Previously
satisfied customers provide referrals and often request additional
rings.
i PREFER to make and sell what i call party rings, which are as you
described, large, somewhat cumbersome looking, wavy, 3D creations,
but i assure you they feel great to wear and are intoxifying to
meditate on, yea, most are out of wood, acrylic or silver and are up
to 2 inches across the fingers, or 3 inches in length, over the back
of the hand, or an inch tall, not meant for 24/7/55, but cherished by
the ones who have them. dp
I just got the 1,000 rings book from Amazon. I looked at about two
pages before I realized if I didn’t put it right back in the box and
hide it, I wouldn’t get any work done all day.
While I was at Amazon, I looked for the metal corrugation book, but
they don’t have it so I guess I’ll have to get that one next time I
order from Rio.
But…they did have the fiber wire book by Lisa Vann aka Lisa Van
Herik, and another book I saw when looking through the Orchid book
list, “Contemporary Japanese Jewelry”. The temptation to tell my
boss I’m not feeling well so I can go home and read is almost
overwhelming…thanks Orchid for helping me find such inspirational
reading material!
I agree the book is GREAT and am fortunate enough to live near
Raleigh, NC where 123 of the objects of adornment are in a show at
the North Carolina State University’s Talley Student Center Art
Gallery. Seeing them in person with the Juror, Bob Ebendorf ,was
quite a thrill and I highly recommend the show to any other Orchid
folks in the surrounding area. There will be a roundtable
discussion with Bob at the end of the show on September 26 at Noon.
I agree…1000 Rings is a magnificent book! But it presents about
990 too many rings for me to view and grasp at one time. And since I
really want to enjoy this cutting-edge jewelry, I developed my own
strategy for reading this book: I open the it once a day in a random
place, browse a few pages, absorb what I am looking at, and then
close the book. That way, I am repeatedly surprised and visually
stimulated. And by taking it in small bites, I get to “rediscover”
the book over and over, savoring the images and investigating the
thought process of each maker. That way, each look provides just
enough new to get me thinking but not so much that it
would oversaturate my senses. To me it would be a waste to breeze
through the book from cover to cover. There is no way you can do
justice to Bob Ebendorf’s selections, by flipping these pages.
Try it yourself.
Alan
Revere Academy of Jewelry Arts, Inc.
760 Market Street Suite 900
San Francisco, California 94102 USA
415-391-4179
Alan, Thats a great way to look at the book. When I first received it
my inclination was to go through it page by page. You are right, it
is just too much at one time. It would only be a superficial look at
best. So now I am following your advice.