DonnaBarnako.com

Spring Art Show, April 20 and 21

"Deco Button"
Brooch/Pendant 

Please mark your calendar for Saturday and Sunday, April 20-21 for

Spring Art Show of Great Falls Studios at

The Village Green Day School

Great Falls, Virginia

10am-5pm each day

I will be showing over a dozen of my new "assemblages" (above) plus wonderful exotic "Stones and Sterling"

And if that isn't enough, I'll have oil-slick colors in twisted pearl necklaces and Raku earrings from the kiln, fired in Devon, U.K. 

This Spring event will feature 20 artists in sculpture, painting, photography, pottery/ceramics and artisan jewelry.

While Snowbound in Maine

Some things to do when the snow is snowin' and the wind is blowin'?

• 1) Make donuts
• 2) Play with the dogs in the snow
• 3) Make jewelry

In the last two weeks I've done all of the above and, since one of my New Years Resolutions was "de-stash". I've found particular satisfaction in No. 3, including making ten, yep ten!, twisted pearl necklaces shown in the photo below.

I've whittled down my stash of freshwater cultured pearls to almost nothing, so when these gals are gone, they're gone!  Lots of beautiful earth tones, one, blue, one green, all with interesting bead cone endings in pottery, glass, Sterling and Swarovski crystal.  All with chain endings so you can adjust the length to suit yourself.

A Long Time in Coming

After a busy Fall and Holiday season, three good shows and teaching classes, I have been hard at play at my work bench.  

My newest piece, which has gotten lots of compliments, is Nautilus.

Many hours of pounding and torching were needed to produce  it.  And we're not even talking about all the cleaning and polishing involved!  To make it really stand out, I've lined it with turquoise stones.  All those dents and dimples were made by moi and I haven't lost a fingernail yet!

I will be teaching three classes this winter at Star's, in Vienna, Virginia.  This will probably be the last time I offer Diary in Metal and the Ammonia Fumed Pendant as I will be concocting new designs for Fall. Each class is six hours long. The price is $65 at Star's.  Contact Star's at (703)938-7018. There is also a $30 kit fee, payable to me.  

Saturday, February 16, 10-4pm Diary in Metal 

We will make a two-page metal "diary", while learning to etch, torch and rivet the components using brass and copper.  Three types of rivets will be used.  Leave with a completed pendant that your friends and family will want for themselves!

Saturday, March 2, 10-4pm Drop Dead Gorgeous (DDG)

Anyone can make this truly beautiful pendant necklace using the macramé technique I teach. We will finish it in class.  Students in my last class bought all the kits I had assembled from my wonderful stash. My newest design, shown in the photo and available in the kits, uses Red River Jasper.  Truly DDG.

Saturday, March 30, 10-4pm Ammonia Fumed Pendant 

You will cut and pierce copper and brass and set a stone in it, ripping open a window in the metal to see the stone.  Next you will lace together with sterling silver wire and then fume the piece in an ammonia fuming chamber you've just made.  If that isn't enough, we will also make a domed pair of earrings using my dapping tools.

Meet Pippa

Hi, my name is Pippa Barnako.  I am a four-and-a-half month-old Briard, a French herding dog and I have been a "Barnako" for about 7 weeks. 

Do you like my necklace?  My momma, Donna (or "Owner" as my dad prefers) made it for her upcoming studio tour.  I just borrowed it to have my portrait done.  A girl's gotta look pretty.

I hope you'll come and meet me and see all the great handmade jewelry Donna has created for the Great Falls Studios Tour on Saturday and Sunday, October 20-21, 10-5 each day.  I'll be in Momma Donna's studio, #10 on the tour, down a short drive off Beach Mill.  Follow the signs and balloons.

The complete brochure with map and descriptions of all 49 participating artists is available here: www.GreatFallsStudios.com.  This same brochure is being sent to every Great Falls mailbox and the McLean 22102 zip code, too.  There's also a big insert in the Connection newspapers with even more information and great ads.

Another reason to visit the GreatFallsStudios.com website is Artbucks.  All you have to do is register on the site (see Artbucks) and you have a REALLY good chance of winning one of forty $50 Artbucks good towards a purchase from any of the artists on the tour.  Winners will be notified by phone the morning of Friday, October 19.

I hope to see you.  I'm very shy but once I get to know you, I am WONDERFUL.

Fall schedule of shows

   Annual Fall Open Studio
October 20-21, Saturday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

I will be participating in the Great Falls Studios (GFS) Open House/Studio Tour.  Our 100-member strong artists' group  will have over 40 participating artists (painters, potters, photographers, sculptors, wood carvers, quilters, jewelers) who open their ateliers, homes and studios for this weekend-long event.  Open to the public and free.

Once again I will be opening my treetop studio and showing my new 2012 collection of art-to-wear.  (Note: outside flight of stairs to climb.) 

 Fashion show, sale and afternoon tea
River Bend Country Club, Great Falls. December 6, Thursday, 1-4 p.m. I am excited to be invited to participate in this holiday event.

  Great Falls Studios Annual Holiday Show/Sale
Village Green Day School, Great Falls, December 8-9, Saturday-Sunday,10-4 p.m.

This will be the first year I am participating in this festive event open to the public in the heart of Great Falls. 

Fall Classes

I will be teaching the following four classes at Star's Beads in Vienna, Va. Registration begins on Monday, September 3, 10a.m.  Please call Star's at 703-938-7018.  All classes are $65 plus a $30 kit fee for materials to complete the project.  Note: all my classes have had long waiting lists and fill early. (Click on the pictures below to see larger images.)

September 29, Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Diary in Metal 

Make a two-page metal diary pendant while learning to rivet, cut, torch and etch copper and brass.   

 

 

 

 

October 8, Monday (Columbus Day), 10 a.m.-4 p.m.  Coloring Metal

Students will make a beautiful pendant coloring the copper or brass with ammonia, capturing a semi-precious stone and "ripping" the metal back to expose it.  We will also make a pair of domed earrings with patina applied.

 

 

 

 

 

October 27, Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Drop Dead Gorgeous (DDG) 

For all skill levels.  

A beautiful necklace embellished with scores of unusual beads and assembled using macramé knotting techniques!  

I've put the kits together from my extensively gathered stash, including Red River Jasper as shown in sample.  Other kits/colorways available .

 

November 10, Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.  Color Me Metal 

A fun class of the four 'Ps'.  We will apply pencils, patinas, paste and paint to color copper, brass and lucite to make lovely components for jewelry.  

 

Ready for Fall!

So I've just returned from Philadelphia where I flew (from Maine) to take some fabulous jewelry making metal workshops.

It was both inspiring as well as exhausting. Very productive, too!  

I now have a small collection of works in progress:  heavily textured metals, etched, enameled, woven, embossed, stenciled and torched (you need to torch each piece many times in order to soften it so that you can shape and move the metal with special hammers for that purpose.

I also learned neat embellishments like twining, looping and Viking knitting with wire.  My two day "immersion" class with Mary Hettmansperger, who has written four incredible books, was sheer bliss.

Can't wait to show my finished pieces at:

Great Falls Studio Tour

October 20-21 (Saturday/Sunday)

I will once again open my treetop studio to friends, clients and new visitors. 

Pictured above are my raw products and some finished pieces, too.  These metal pieces so lend themselves to the unusual old bids and pieces that I just can't stop collecting in the many antique stores in Maine.

I will be teaching FOUR classes at Star's in Vienna, Virginia this Fall.  All are on a Saturday, except for one on Monday, Columbus Day. More details to follow.

Treasure Hunting in Maine

As I watch the summer fly by in oh-so-cool Maine, (temperature cool, that is), I've had two exciting jewelry "encounters". The first was a trip to Bucksport, Maine, where we supposedly were attending the town fair.

The REAL reason, as far as I was concerned, was to find the studio of BILL FRETZ, silversmith extraordinaire and designer of the Cadillac line of jeweler's hammers and tools. Designed by Mr. Fretz and manufactured by his son Jordan, in Vietnam, the hammers are a dream of balance, precision and beautiful wood. Mr. Fretz proudly showed my husband and me photos of his just completed factory, bright, modern and busy.

When I am creating a piece of jewelry that takes hours to make, I want to use the best tools. It makes me feel good, and the specialness of the tools is reflected in the specialness of the jewelry, I feel. Here are my two new Fretz hammers and his catalog which makes me lust for adding more to my collection.

 

 

My second encounter was of a different sort, because I found an antiques dealer in Maine who specializes in Bakelite pieces. Bakelite was accidentally discovered in 1907 and is the first synthetic plastic. It was used extensively in the 1920s-1940s in buttons, jewelry and even the dash boards of Mercedes Benz cars! It has since become relatively rare and much sought-after.

My dealer was only willing to part with some of her pieces because her collection had grown so large over the years. I have wanted to work with Bakelite for a very long time and this opportunity was not to be missed!

This photo shows my new pieces, mostly buckles, one button and a few caramel "beads" which I think will make good earrings. The buckles will become wonderful focal beads/closures for necklaces or bracelets. I have several designs in mind already. These are rare pieces of Bakelite...see if you find any like them on eBay! I hope to have them incorporated into designs in time for our big Great Falls Studios fall open studio tour on October 20-21, 2012. More about that later!

Work, Work, Work!

Now that we are comfortably settled in Maine for the summer, I can get down to some real work

For whatever reason, I find that I can be incredibly productive here.  Even with only about 1% of my tools and supplies from back home, I can somehow get things done.  

What a nice surprise it was then to have a group of neighbors and friends visit and see what I've been doing.  In addition to my new pieces, I was able to show them many others that I had brought along to restock my display at DebraElizabeth's, my favorite clothing boutique in historic Wiscasset, Maine.  


With a great location right on Main Street, right next to the gourmet food emporium, Treats, and just across the street from world famous (no kidding) Red's Eats, she gets all the traffic passing through on Route One on the way to Downeast Maine.  While the husbands dutifully wait in line for several hours at Red's (it's just an old lobster shack, really!) the women shop.

I was especially pleased  to show my visitors two macramé necklaces I just completed using vintage and artisan made beads that are very special.  

The black and white, which I call Hollywood, is now available at DebraElizabeth's and is a reprise of one that I made for The Artisans in McLean, Virginia.  I am holding on to the second one, Bayou, because I will be teaching "it" this Fall.  It features a beautiful Red River Jasper stone from which all the beads and macramé hang.  I purchased several while in Santa Fe in March so that my students will be able to make the same or almost the same necklace.

My next posting will feature a step-by-step photo essay of some beautiful earrings I made with 6 gauge bronze wire.  That's about as thick as a soda straw and it caused some real challenges for my barely acceptable supply of tools  that I brought with me. (car space is at a premium!)

See my work at donnabarnako.com.

New for 2012!

First, let me wish you a Very Happy New Year and a superb 2012.

These are the classes I've scheduled for winter/spring 2012 at Star's Beads in Vienna, Virginia.  Registration begins at 10am on Monday, January 9.  You can register by phone:  (703) 938-7018.  Each class is six hours (10-4pm) and $65 plus a $30 materials fee. There is a maximum of eight
students in each class.

Coloring on Metal, Part 1.  Saturday, April 7

Students will make their own fuming chamber and use ammonia to oxidize copper or brass.  The metals will turn varying shades of turquoise.  Class project is a pendant with a captured stone and techniques taught include coiling, cutting and texturing metal, setting a stone with coiled Sterling Silver.  A domed pair of earrings will also be made using a special patina.

Coloring on Metal, Part 2.  Saturday, April 28

Learn exciting new ways to color metals with paints,pencils, patinas and paste.  We will color copper and brass metal blanks, filigree and Lucite beads using these various methods.  A fun and easy class.

Diary in Metal. Friday, March 30

This is my "revised Sophisticated Steampunk" class with an all new project.  A potpourri of cold connection techniques (no soldering).  Make a metal keepsake diary necklace with metal pages displaying your special photo and inspiring words while learning to etch, texture, rivet, cut, pierce, stamp, Patinate and oxidize brass and copper. This is a jam-packed day full of techniques and fun!

Not your Grandmother's macrame. Saturday, March 10, 10am-4pm

In my studio in Great Falls. I love teaching this class and students love taking it!  It is my Daggers and Dandelions bracelet class, BUT we are making a pendant necklace like the one shown below.  You will finish the project in class.  I assemble the kits with my very special findings, leaves, flowers, beads, etc. to make a smashing piece of jewelry.  The $85 fee covers class, special kits, fibers, just bring yourself!  Limited to five people only.  To register for this class only, please email me:  Donna@DonnaBarnako.com.