If Liana Pattihis were not a contemporary jewellery artist, would she be an archaeologist, searching for ancient treasures, unearthing hidden ornaments made thousands of years ago? I bet she would.

It is not difficult to imagine her working in her London studio, discovering new ways to combine enamel with chains and creating pieces inspired by Greek-Cypriot tradition. That is why I cannot wait to see her first solo exhibition ‘Alysodemeno’, which is coming to the Benaki Museum from 25/04/2012 – 27/05/2012.

In the exhibition’s press release, she explains in her own words:

‘Alysodeméno’ – ‘Chained’, represents a body of work, a
journey in time which links pieces created from 2005 to today,
from my early experimentations with enamel, through to
‘Adapted Patterns’, a collection based on the simple schematic
linear patterns relating to various types of Greek traditional
aprons and costumes. The title ‘Alysodeméno’ is used here
primarily as a metaphor. The work not only involves enamel
which is ‘chain bound’, but also reflects a personal visual
language. As the future is inexorably linked to the past and
the traditional is tied to the contemporary, so is the strong
undivided link between what represents me as an artist
and my Greek-Cypriot cultural heritage.” Liana Pattihis

“Η έκθεση‘Αλυσοδεμένο’ είναι ένα ταξίδι στο χρόνο που συνδέει
κοσμήματα που δημιουργήθηκαν από το 2005 έως σήμερα. Από τους
πρώτους πειραματισμούς μου με το σμάλτο μέχρι και την συλλογή
‘Adapted Patterns’ -‘Προσαρμοσμένα Πατρόν’, εμπνευσμένη από
γραμμικά πατρόν Ελληνικών Εθνικών ενδυμασιών.
Ο τίτλος ‘Αλυσοδεμένο’ χρησιμοποιείται εδώ κυρίως σαν
μεταφορά. Το έργο δεν αφορά μόνο το σμάλτο που είναι ‘δεμένο’
με την αλυσίδα, αλλά αντικατοπτρίζει επίσης μια προσωπική
εικαστική γλώσσα. Όπως το μέλλον είναι άρρηκτα συνδεδεμένο με
το παρελθόν και το παραδοσιακό με το σύγχρονο, έτσι αδιαίρετη
είναι και η ισχυρή σχέση μεταξύ της τέχνης μου και της
Ελληνοκυπριακής πολιτιστικής κληρονομιάς μου.” Λιάνα Παττίχη

Liana Pattihis - Iris Stamens Brooch (2005). Copper, enamel, monofilament, stainless steel. Picture courtesy of the artist.

Liana Pattihis - Unearthed Necklace 01 (2007). Inspired by the unearthed gold of Troy, treasure item 101. Silver, 44 brass found objects, 1 silver plate, 2 fragments of a silver plate, copper, enamel. Picture courtesy of the artist.

Liana Pattihis - Kandinsky Reversible Brooch (2007). Inspired by Wassily Kandinsky’s painting ‘Yellow, Red, Blue’ 1925. Copper, silver, enamel, stainless steel. Picture courtesy of the artist.

Liana Pattihis - Kandinsky Reversible Brooch (2007). Inspired by Wassily Kandinsky’s painting ‘Yellow, Red, Blue’ 1925. Copper, silver, enamel, stainless steel. Photo from http://www.pattihis.com

Liana Pattihis - 'Grey Kandinsky Brooch (2007). Inspired by Wassily Kandinsky’s painting’ Yellow, Red, Blue’ 1925. Copper mesh, silver, enamel, stainless steel. Photo from http://www.pattihis.com

Liana Pattihis - Chain Brooch (2007). 4m of continuous trace chain, copper, enamel, stainless sSteel. L18cm. Photo from http://www.pattihis.com

Liana Pattihis - 'Istos' Necklace 01 (2010). Inspired by the intricate lace on Traditional Greek Costumes. Silver light trace chain, enamel. Photo from http://www.pattihis.com

Liana Pattihis - 'Adapted Patterns' Small Necklace 01 (2011). Silver chain, enamel. Photo from http://www.pattihis.com

Liana Pattihis - 'Adapted Patterns' Small Necklace 01 (2011). Silver chain, enamel. Photo from http://www.pattihis.com

Liana Pattihis - 'Adapted Patterns' Installation Necklace 01 (2011). Silver chain, enamel. Photo from http://www.pattihis.com

See you at the opening and thank you for reading!

Of course, it has absolutely nothing to do with christianity as we know it and has everything to do with very old, paganistic rituals, a German fertility goddess, the celebration of the circle of life and death, bloody eggs and hermaphrodite bunnies.

However, even though part of my mission is to inform you, if you’ve read other posts in my young, beloved blog you’ll realize that I am not here to explain to you why (or how) virgin bunnies reproduce but to smother you with pictures of magnificent jewellery.

So, for the sake of little children around the world, let’s pretend that bunnies do carry eggs in baskets. Let’s pretend that bunnies do have opposable thumbs. And let’s pretend that the following pieces look like happy easter eggs.

Elize Hiiop – Necklace. Picture from Elize Hiiop’s Picasa Gallery

Peter Hoogeboom - Necklace. Photo from http://blog.panieprzodem.pl

Trinidad Contreras - Brooch. Photo from http://menudadeplata.blogspot.com/

Andrea Nabholz - Necklace. Photo from http://www.borax08001.com

Peter Bauhuuis - Ring. Silver. Photo from http://helenaila.blogspot.com

Katrin Veegen - "Play 1" (2005). Ring. Silver, wood, acrylic. Photo from http://katrinveegen.mosaicglobe.com

Stephanie Hensle - Ham Necklace. Photo from http://dustyburrito.blogspot.com/

Leia Zumbro - Ring. Steel covered in gut and tulle with uncut garnets inside. Photo from http://crafthaus.ning.com

Sigurd Bronger - Goose Egg Ring (1997). Steel, silver. Photo from http://www.norwegiancrafts.no

Sigurd Bronger - Ring. Photo from http://helenaila.blogspot.com

Kiff Slemmons - ''tochtli'' brooch. Photo from http://jewelry.velvetdavinci.com

Happy Easter everybody!

*Greek proverb meaning: You’ve no idea what you’re doing my friend.

Thank you for reading this far

No pictures were copied or downloaded. They are all linked to the respective websites.

This year’s spring is yellow.

A5 - Brooch. Jewelry comisioned as gifts for the 2008 graduating class of Interior Architecture, Konstfack University, Stocholm, Sweden. Photo from http://www.afive.se

Bekki Churcher - Brooch. Enamel on copper and silver. Photo from http://payload.cargocollective.com

Helena Lehtinen – Brooch (2008). Textile, silver, plastic, hematite. Photo from http://www.ornamentumgallery.com

Coco Dunmire - Brooch (2009). Resin, Pigment, Steel, Silver 925. Photo from http://cocodunmire.webs.com

Pennie Jagiello - "Sponge cup". Rings, pendant, object. Citrine yellow and black electrical wire. Photo from http://www.piecesofeight.com.au

Estela Saez - GROC (2008) from the "Good by(e) nest" series. Silver, gold, wool, fabrics. Photo from http://estelasaez.com

No pictures were copied or downloaded. They are all linked to their respective web sites.

Anastasia Kandaraki and her Anamma Seminars are really getting down to business and thank goodness for us Athenians.

On Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th April, from 11:00-16:00 you’ll be learning insider skills and tips on designing jewellery through an introduction to technical design and rendering. The lecturer, Olga Kandaraki (yes, same family name, same family) has been teaching jewellery design since 2003 and I’ve got only one thing to say to all of you who live in Athens and hope to improve your drawing skills: What are you waiting for?

Update 22.03.2012: Thanks to the artist for the wonderful sketches/renderings!

Olga Kandaraki - Picture courtesy of the artist

Olga Kandaraki - Picture courtesy of the artist

Olga Kandaraki - Picture courtesy of the artist

Olga Kandaraki - Picture courtesy of the artist

Olga Kandaraki - Picture courtesy of the artist

Olga Kandaraki - Picture courtesy of the artist

40 contemporary artists have created their own masterpieces with this ‘old-fashioned’ method. The exhibition “Die Renaissance des Emaillierens” is opening today at Galerie Handwerk in Munich.

“…We believe this topic is currently highly relevant, as many young gold and silversmiths have begun to devote themselves to this technique…we would like to document and show this observation”.

I’m already regretting not going to Schmuck this year…

Bettina Dittlmann - Brooch (2009). Iron binding wire and enamel. Picture from http://collections.vam.ac.uk

Carolina Gimeno - Brooch. Copper, enamel, silver. Picture from http://kitandcaboodle.ning.com

Christine Graf - "No return" (2011). Brooch. Copper mesh, gold, silver, enamel, stainless steel. Photo by Christine Graf from http://thinkingthroughthings.blogspot.com

Karin Johansson - Necklace. Sterling silver, 18k gold, enamel. Photo from wwwsplendor.blogspot.com

Jamie Bennett - "Matters of Appearance" Series (2010/2011). Necklace. Gold and enamel. Picture from http://siennagallery.com

Beate Eismann - Necklace. Picture from http://www.beate-eismann.de

Beate Eismann - Necklace. Picture from http://www.beate-eismann.de

Ike Jünger - Brooch. Silver, gold, enamel. Photo from http://www.pilartz.com

Gemma Draper - "Blossom Delivery 7" (2009). Brooch. Copper, enameling, sculpey, paint. Picture from http://www.gemmadraper.com

Do you have any favourite enamel jewellery to show us? Join me at my Pinterest album and start sharing!

Thank you for reading this.

No pictures were downloaded or copied. They are all linked to their respective websites.

Anyway, I already went to Germany this January and there will be no more deutsche Wurstis for me so let’s see what else I’ll be missing at Schmuck 2012.

Iacov Azubel - Ring (2009). Gold-filled silver, plexiglas, water, air bubble. Picture from http://www.icarealot.me

Jamie Bennett - "Posteriori No. 7" (2008). Brooch. Enamel, copper, 18k gold. Picture from http://www.wearableartblog.com

Doris Betz - "Takeover" (2011). Brooch. Silver, lacquer. Picture from http://katiejaynebritchford.blogspot.com

Alexander Blank - "Momento Juniori" Series (2011). Ring. Picture from http://www.artjewelryforum.org

Liv Blåvarp - Photo from http://www.euran.com

Helen Britton - Flowers and shells (2007). Brooch. Silver, paint. Picture from http://www.fingers.co.nz

Buck Kim - Pumpous (2011). Photo from http://www.kimbuck.dk

Kiko Gianocca - Necklaces. Picture from http://www.galleryfunaki.com.au

I’ll update with a new post and more artists featured in Schmuck 2012. Now I’m out for the weekend. Thank you for reading this.

No pictures were downloaded or copied. They are all linked to their respective websites.

Hermann Jünger - Necklace (1957). Gold, emeralds, sapphire, rubies, moonstone, enamel. Picture from http://www.artjewelryforum.org

Take another look.

Because this is as good as it gets.

I seem to have a crash on wooden surfaces and objects lately and I’ve discovered some beautiful pictures from the following artists.

Jakob Nyberg - Photo from http://jacobnyberg.blogspot.com/

Jakob Nyberg - Photo from http://jacobnyberg.blogspot.com/

Jakob Nyberg - Photo from http://jacobnyberg.blogspot.com/

Djurdijca Kesic - Necklaces from the "Cities" series. Oak, Sterling Silver, Paint, Silk thread (photography by Andrew Bachram). Photo from http://www.djurdjicakesic.com

Djurdijca Kesic - "Despina" from "Cities" Series. Necklace. Pine, Paint, Silk thread (photography by Andrew Bachram). Photo from http://www.djurdjicakesic.com

Djurdjica Kesic - "Nomad 7". Necklace. Reclaimed timber lamp, linen thread. Photo from http://www.djurdjicakesic.com

Jorge Castanon - "The Yellow box". Brooch. Found Wood, 24 karat gold, sterling silver and steel. Constructed. Photo from http://www.jorgecastanon.com.ar

Jorge Castanon - "Refuge II" (2009). Brooch. Ebony and nickel silver. Constructed. Photo from http://www.jorgecastanon.com.ar

Flora Vagi - "Azur" (2005). Necklace. Ebony, silk, cold enamel, 18ct gold. Photo from http://www.floravagi.com

Flora Vagi - Spiral bracelets (2004). Oak, steel, cold enamel. Photo from http://www.floravagi.com

Flora Vagi - Leaves necklace (2008). Ebony, padauk, silk. Photo from http://www.floravagi.com

No pictures were downloaded or copied. They are all direct links to their respective websites.

Thank you for reading.

Photo by CrisisCorps

Isn’t it ironic? Life is so the opposite of boring I tell you, I just love it! While I was talking about the benefits of blogging in my last post, Alchimia’s blog was being hacked and is now out of service…

Instead of getting all angry and sentimental about this, why not think about what we can all learn from it? Is it possible that one can prevent this from happening? I did some research and although there is no 100% hack-proof solution, it seems that there are some things one can do to make it a little more difficult for our friendly hackers.

Here is what WordPress has to suggest.

1. “Keeping your secrets secret”
Use a difficult-to-guess password. Do NOT share your password and do not use easy-to-guess words or birthdates…

“All it takes is one person to guess your password and they can delete every post you ever made. They could deface your site. They could read you emails or hijack your address and impersonate you. They could ruin what you have taken time to build.”

2. Choosing and using good passwords
Invent difficult words or phrases as passwords with capital letters, numbers and special characters. But how will you keep track of all these difficult passwords??? Use can use a password management software to control your passwords they are too difficult even for you to remember.

“These are some the password managers we use for our own passwords:

• Keepass – Open Source, free to download and use. Available for Windows, Mac and Linux.
• LastPass – Free service with premium option. Available for all major OSs, browsers and mobile devices.
• 1Password – Paid download. Available for Windows, Mac and iOS, with support for all major browsers.“

3. Logging out to prevent public access to your Dashboard
Manually log out from your account each time you shut down you pc or even just the browser, especially if you’re working on a public computer.

“If you don’t log out, someone may be able to access your account just by viewing the browser history and going back to your WordPress.com Dashboard.

To log out of your WordPress.com account, select My Account → Log Out from the gray toolbar at the top of any WordPress.com page.“

4. Safely sharing control of your site with other users
Determine specific roles for each of your blog’s users. Have only one Administrator and appoint the rest as Contributors, who cannot make significant changes to the blog but can only write or draft posts. Do not even use the Administrator role yourself unless necessary and use the Editor’s role instead for day-to-day business.

“[...] be particularly stingy with the Administrator role. When you make another user an Administrator on your site, you’re literally creating a separate set of keys for your site and handing them to someone else. Not only will they be able to take your site for a joyride,  just having an extra set of keys laying around significantly increases the risk of your site being hijacked.”

5. Using a secure connection to log in to WordPress.com
“When you sign in to WordPress.com via a public Internet connection, such as a Wi-Fi connection at a library or a coffee shop, your account may be vulnerable to hijacking.

To keep the bad guys out, you can use a secure, encrypted connection to connect to your Dashboard. Under Users → Personal Settings, check the box that says “Always use HTTPS when visiting administration pages, and click Save Changes.”

6. Augment your password with an extra layer of authentication
“With the Text Messaging feature, you can use any SMS-capable phone as a unique key to your blog. After you sign up for the service, we will send you a one-time code in a text message when ever you try to log in to your blog. You will only be able to complete the log in by entering this code. This means that even if someone gets your password, they won’t be able to log in without getting your mobile phone as well.“

Wow… this trully seems like a lot of work but it IS worth it in the long run, isn’t it? Imagine all the stress and disappointment you will put yourself through, if something like this happens to your little blog.

I have to admit that I’m going right to the Settings page on my account and changing all these things right after uploading this post.

Alchimia have informed me that they are already working on fixing things and girls, don’t you worry. Your new blog will be better and more secure than the previous one!! Baci to all of you!

Thank you for reading this and let’s hope that the next post will be contemporary jewellery-related

No pictures were downloaded or copied. They are all linked to their respective websites.

Update: 17.02.2012
Alchimia’s blog is back online! Keep up the great work people!

I’ve discovered that most contemporary jewellery artists (especially Europeans because Americans are way ahead of us in this) seem to still be internet-shy. They either do not have any online presence at all (!?!?!!!) or their web site is so out-of-date (FrontPage much?) and difficult to navigate through that sometimes I just give it up for the sake of my sanity. I bet these artists are thinking:
“Internet is not for me and if I upload good, high resolution pictures of my work they’ll steal my designs” while hammering away in their workshops.
Meanwhile, other artists who may or may not be more talented than you, have been online so long and playing the social media game so well that you should not be surprised when everybody’s talking about them, buying and copying their work and nobody is buying or copying yours.

This trend is slowly changing of course, so a big thank you to all of the artists out there who have a user-friendly web site with great pictures of their work, taken by professionals. You make my life so much easier.

And for those of you who might still be thinking “hosting a web site and paying professionals to take pictures of my work costs money” here are a few tips only a google-click away. I’m sure you can find more and better advice if you take the time:

• There are at least “25 Free Blog Hosts” out there. Take your pick. I’m using WordPress.com and if I can do it so can you.
• Study other web sites that you like. What do you like about them? Study web sites that you hate. What do you hate about them? Make a list of do’s and don’ts and keep it in mind when you’re creating your blog/web site. Ask a friend web designer or search the internet for tips. It’s for free.
•  In the beginning, learn how to take good pictures of your work or create your own equipment if you can. And it’s almost certain that you have a friend or a friend of a friend who is an amateur photographer and is willing to help you out.

No pictures were downloaded or copied for this post. Really.

Thank you for reading.