DonnaBarnako.com

Click on any photo to see a larger version and more detail of my work.

I'll be teaching new classes at Stars

Friday, October 29, 10-4pm, Dandelion and Daggers

No experience needed for this fun and easy class.  Gather all your daggers, flowers, leaves and other top-drilled beads and learn how to make this awesome macramé bracelet.

 
Friday, November 19, 10-4pm, Steampunk Style

Learn to etch, rivet, shape, texture, patinate, torch and cut out metal while making a linked bracelet or watch band.  Students will work with copper and brass sheet metal and wire which they will cut, shape and etch and then embellish with watch parts and other "steampunk" elements. 

I will have old keys, watch parts and stamps available and hopefully some goodies which I have gleaned from the flea markets in Paris and Provence which my husband and I will be visiting on Sept. 24-Oct 9 (to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary!).

Registration begins Monday, September 13, 10am.  Contact Stars Beads, (703) 938-7018.  Hope to see you there!
 

Great Falls Studios Tour, Oct. 16-17

Over 40 artists will be opening their studios (me, too!) in and around Great Falls for this once a year BIG event. 

This will likely be the only public opportunity for you to see my new work this Fall. 

Come visit in my treetop studio where I will demonstrate etching on metal at noon each day.  See also an array of gorgeous new necklaces with pearls in amazing colors and shapes.

Look for our program booklet (it's one you will want to keep for reference) with photos and descriptions of each participating artist's work  and a colorful map of Great Falls with studio locations.  The booklet will be abundantly available throughout Great Falls, including restaurants, hardware store and library, or, if you are geographically challenged, email me and I'll be happy to send you one.
 
Also, look for our Great Falls Studios 36-page insert in The Connection newspaper (Great Falls,

McLean and Reston editions) on October 6. 

As in the booklet, all the same map, photos and artist information, plus great ads from businesses in our community (including an "advertorial" by me ... but you'll have to look to see what that is all about :).

 

Maine, the Way Life Should be

The oft-repeated slogan that sums up perfectly the lifestyle and attitude of this laid back State.  I say it frequently when we have a glorious day of weather and scenery or when we have an unexpected encounter that seems far removed from our experience in the suburbs of Northern Virginia. This was the case when I recently sought to have my jewelry-making wire cutters sharpened.  They were manufactured by a company called XURON,  which just happens to be located in Saco, Maine. 

I have two pairs which have had heavy use over the last five years or so, and they've performed wonderfully.  The #2175F Maxi-Shear is especially useful in classrooms because it has a retainer which latches onto the short piece of wire that can fly across the room unless you hold your finger right next to it as you're cutting.  It will cut up to 12 gauge wire.  The other #9200 is a workhorse with tapered head and can cut up to 14 gauge wire.  Both are under $25 and THEY'RE AMERICAN MADE!

Both of my cutters were dull and nicked from use.  When I emailed the company, I was warned that they might not be able to "fix" them because of the nicks.  I sent them anyway, figuring things couldn't get worse.  When I followed up a few days later, I was told that they were beyond repair but XURON WAS GOING TO REPLACE THEM AT NO CHARGE!
 
So this is my testimonial to this excellent company and the products they make.  I recommend them to you!
 
XURON CORP. 62 Industrial Park Road, Saco, Me. 04072.  Email:  Sales@Xuron.com; www.xuron.com.  These products may be purchased from www.RioGrande.com and www.Contenti.com  among others.

Summer in Maine, so far

Our 2010 summer in Maine has started off with great weather, a Fourth of July lobster bake and exciting plans for a trunk showing of my jewelry in Wiscasset, Maine for July 22-23.  Here's a link to the press release.

I am very pleased to have completed Random Acts of Beads, a necklace five years in the making, shown in the press release (and above).  It is comprised of 18 separate beaded components which were then sewn onto a separate beaded necklace base.  It's in shades of caramel and copper with purple accents and made to sit at the base of the neck for all to see.

I have also been very busy making a half dozen unusual freshwater cultured pearl necklaces (above).  They're unusual because of the pearl shapes and incredible iridescent colors.  Shown are Jacks (they remind me of the Jacks game we used to play as kids), Merlot and Hummingbird.

For the many lovers of purple, I made a seven-strand pearl bracelet that is definitely BLING.  The custom two-inch dichroic glass and Sterling clasp is meant to be worn on the front of the wrist, the better to show it off, along with the 14 Swarovski crystal cubes alongside it.

The last photo is NightBloom (above), one of two stunning (if I do say so) bracelets that really need to be seen in person.  NightBloom features scores of beads:  vintage, glass, stones and gems in black, gray, taupe, silver, copper, lavender and teal. The closure is handmade glass in black and white stripes by David Christianson of Providence, Rhode Island.  The second bracelet (no photo) is in lime and turquoise with seahorses, shells and fish with an eye-catching ceramic toggle clasp.  This is a happy bracelet.

If you're anywhere in the midcoast Maine area on July 22-23, please stop by and see the trunk show as well as DebraElizabeth's wonderful shop, right on the banks of the Sheepscot River.  Be sure to get in line for a lobster roll at world famous Red's Eats, right at the end of the block.  Deb's phone # is 207 882 8485.
 
If I don't see you there, be sure to mark October 16-17 on your calendar for the Great Falls Studio Tour.  I'll be opening my studio once again for this event, which gets bigger and bigger each year.

Trunk Show in Wiscasset July 22 and 23

Handcrafted jewelry by Wiscasset resident Donna Barnako will be on display in a special showing on Thursday and Friday, July 22 and 23 at DebraElizabeth's, 55 Water Street in Wiscasset.

All are invited to a wine and cheese reception on Thursday, July 22, 5-8pm at DebraElizabeth's. 

On Friday, July 23, 10-4pm, Donna Barnako will be in the shop discussing her work and demonstrating several jewelry-making techniques such as painting and stenciling on silk, bead crochet and wire working. 

Barnako has been making jewelry for ten years and teaches metalworking, wire work, and beading in Northern Virginia.  With her husband Frank, her permanent home is in Great Falls, Virginia.  She is a summer resident of Wiscasset at Clark's Point.
 
Barnako considers her pieces wearable art and each is one-of-a-kind.  She may use found objects from the Montsweag Flea Market such as old keys, Victorian hat fobs and watch parts, or she might use handmade glass she has found in places like Venice, Italy.  Her favorite medium is metalworking where sheets of copper, brass and silver are hand-sawn, acid etched and shaped and distressed with vintage and modern tools.
 
Several of Barnako's beaded pieces on display took months to make.  Random Acts of Beads (photo) was crafted in a freeform style with many different stitching techniques.  Over a dozen separate beaded components were stitched together.

Another piece, Coral Reef, has as its focus a hand-carved and painted sea horse from Costa Rica.   
In honor of Lincoln County's 250th Anniversary, Barnako has created the Pownalborough Pearls, a half dozen freshwater cultured pearl necklaces and earring sets.  The pearls are in unique colors and shapes that she gathered in her national and international travels.
 
This is the fifth season for DebraElizabeth's, a shop which specializes in American-made casual clothing for women and finery, both vintage and new, for the home.  Owner, DebraElizabeth Schaffer has sold antiques for 15 years at several locations in Wiscasset prior to moving to her present location just a few doors down the street from Red's Eats.
 
"I thought DebraElizabeth's wonderful Flax and Bryn Walker clothing would be perfect backdrops for my jewelry" says Barnako.  "Every summer I take all my female house guests to her store for shopping sprees.  Her exquisite clothing is sophisticated and not fussy. It is a perfect complement to my pieces."  The shop's phone number is 882-8485.
 
More of Donna Barnako's work may be seen on her Web site:  www.DonnaBarnako.com.

More classes at Star's Beads

Because I have requested Saturday classes so that many of you working folks can join me, my next class will not be until April 3, when I'll be teaching Fabulous Fabric Beads (see the picture).  This, too, is an all day class (10-4) and a $60 fee plus $25 for materials.  It is so much fun making and teaching how to construct these colorful beads.  Feel like I'm in grade school art class with glue, paint and scissors making a huge mess.  In the class we'll be using batik fabrics as well as silk, paints, glue, rubber stamps and rotary cutters to make an eye catching pendant or earrings (earrings are smaller versions of the pendant but are not pictured).  Call 703-938-7018 to register.

My very most favorite thing to do recently is making my new design, which I've named Artifact.  It takes several days to construct due to the number of steps involved:  etching the copper or brass which has been stamped with a design, in an acid bath; cutting the shape with a jeweler's saw, drilling the holes for the rivets, applying a patina and antiquing the metal, riveting the piece together, making the chain links and finally, applying a fixative.  ARTIFACT is shown here and I will be teaching all these techniques in Metalworks II on Saturday, April 24, 10-4pm. Again, the class will be at Star's with $60 fee and $25 materials fee.  The ladies who took this class which I taught for the first time in October, loved it. Call 703-938-7018 to register.

Back by popular request is FROTH AND GLITZ (pictured below).  I teach it on Friday, April 30, 10-4pm.  It is another fun class and is for all levels.  The necklace pictured appeared in the Washington Post.  We'll combine funky fibers (I used to own a yarn shop so I have lots of them) and colorful beads to make this great looking necklace.  It is amazing to see the variety of creations that come out of this class.  Every piece is truly unique.  Come join us! Call 703-938-7018 to register.

First class of the year, Jan. 16

My class schedule for this winter at Star's Beads in Vienna is set.

My first class is VERY SOON:  Saturday, January 16, 10-4pm ($60 plus $25 class materials fee).  The class is Metalworks I, for beginners or others who want to learn the techniques.  We will be cutting copper and brass sheet metal with sheers to fashion a pendant and earrings.  We'll use a dapping block to shape or dome the metal, a disc cutter to make discs out of it, texture it with metal stamps, hammers and other materials, rivet it and finally color and antique it using a torch and liver of sulfur.  This is a fun, noisy and tension relieving class!  Come join the party.  Call Star's at 703-938-7018 to sign up.

Happy New Year!

What a relief to have December and 2009 behind us!  I hope the next year and the next decade will be so much better for everyone. 

My New Year's Resolution is to work harder, learn and teach.  In this new year I will be delving more into the coloring of metals that I incorporate in my jewelry, using micas, enamels and colored pencils as well as patinas, torches and oxidizers. 

On my work bench right now are three projects, all using brass, copper and silver chains with a variety of links, which I'll mix with some great stones, artisan glass and artifacts I've collected from my travels.  More in a few weeks!

 

Fantasy Fiber Necklace

I have been having so much fun making and  teaching how to construct these colorful beads.  Feels like I'm in grade school art class with the glue, paint and scissors making a huge mess.  

I taught an overflow class in October at Star's Beads in Vienna, and will do it again on Saturday, April 3.  Contact Star's at 703 938 7018 for information and to register.  Meanwhile, check out my finished pieces at The Artisans in Mclean (Langley Shopping Center, 703 506 0158). 

There are several necklaces and as of 10 days ago, a dynamite pair of earrings with a half dozen handmade beads dangling on a chain for each earring.  I use beautiful batik fabric as well as starting from scratch with white silk, paints and fantastico rubber stamps.  My newer pieces have funky handmade findings from MyElements (www.myelements.com).

Artifact

My very most favorite thing to do recently is this, making my new design, Artifact. 

It takes several days to construct due to the number of steps involved:  etching the copper or brass which has been stamped with a design, in an acid bath; cutting the shape with a jeweler's saw, drilling the holes for the rivets, applying a patina and antiquing the metal, riveting the piece together, making the chain links and finally, applying a fixative.

The necklace, or pendant version, which I've called Ancient is very special, too.  I have acquired rare and unusual-looking stones and fossils from a stone cutter (lapidarian) in Tucson. 

For each I have custom cut an underpinning with prongs which I attach to a metal base.  The prongs fasten the stone to the underpinning, which I then rivet to the metal base.  There is one on display at The Artisans and I have two more on my work bench in progress:  one is a lovely fossil sand dollar and the second is a very unusual stone called Ribbon Turquoise.  It actually has a strand of turquoise cutting through it like a narrow river.  Quite beautiful.

I will be teaching Artifact, the bracelet, for the second time on Saturday, April 24 at Star's Beads in Vienna.