ornamentum gallery: the (august 2010) collection

"kleine halskraus" - limited edition sculptural necklace by camilla prasch, of denmark.

made of black silicone discs and nylon snaps.

i like this because it looks like a serious little record collection...

the albino version!

also by camilla prasch... "reigen 715 2009"

this necklace is made of paper pricetags, polyester thread

from the felt jewelry collection of karin wagner (switzerland)

also from karin wagner...less "necklace," more "lei." a felted lei...

rolled paper chain...by momoko kumai (japan)

this reminds me of my sister's work...

"by the meter" is an necklace made of meters (presumably) of looped links.

artist: dorothea brill, of germany

necklace (wood, silver, mirror) by pia aleborg (sweden)

artist: pia aleborg

all photos © anita aguilar

rebecca hannon: color stuctures

these photos are for my sister...

20' long necklace. (yes, feet)

laminate, cable.

carnival necklace--this one might be my favorite, for the turquoise and coral...

silver, laminate, turquoise, coral. 34 inches long.

pebble neckpiece

laminate, cable. 20 x 10 x 1/8 inches. (check the red dot...this one's sold)

i have to be honest and say, i thought this was a bracelet. but maybe they are earrings?

the design though, is "orbit" and it's silver and laminate...

see the silver eyeglass frames?

modular earrings

laminate, silver. ca. 2 1/2 x 1 x 1 3/4 inches

branch and oval earrings

silver, orange laminate. 5.25 x 2.5 x 1/8 inches

nest bracelet

horse hair, oxidized silver. 6 x 5 x 3 inches

***

all photos © anita aguilar

rebecca hannon: more porcelain...

i love that these pieces show the artist's hand--for real. these are stamped and cut from porcelain paper, called keraflex, then fused with slurry, and heated at an extremely high temperature...

megaphone earrings

porcelain, gold. 2.25 inch diameter x 1"

goose feather earrings

porcelain, gold. 2.25 x 1.75 x 5/8 inches

***

photos © anita aguilar

west village windows...

at sucre. 357 bleecker street.

i LOVE me some striped shirts...at sucre. 357 bleecker street.

at sucre. 357 bleecker street.

go see, covet, buy the beautiful pieces--finely wrought art--by philip crangi.

the new york store is at no. 9 ninth avenue.

a few bracelets...

learn more about his career and see more of his pieces at philipcrangi.com

and

shop at the giles and brother site.

objets d'art...

a big welcome to the blogosphere to my very talented sister, an artist and jewelry maker, who is finally showcasing her beautiful work at sheena925.wordpress.com.

i have probably been the biggest beneficiary, as her passion and skill for jewelry-making have grown. for the last several years, for any occasion, she has shared her gift with me--literally. i'm always overwhelmed, not just because each piece is beautiful, but because "she" is in every one: her taste and sensibility--bold, yet refined and impeccable--balanced with thoughtfulness of what i would like. and each reflects the determination that she applies to learning and perfecting the craft.

i hope you'll visit her new blog. i'll be posting updates, of course, and i'll keep a link to it on the side bar, along with all the other folks that continue to inspire me.

***

i've undertaken a little photo-experimenting with the pieces she's made for me. she liked a couple of them, so you'll find them at sheena925. but here are outtakes:

silver bracelet made by sheena. all photos © anita aguilar

***

back when we were in high school, my cousin jojo created a collage for me, which still hangs in my bedroom at my parents' house, and which i've used for the last few years as my online "identity." it is so much nicer and more artful than any photo i would have picked.

me, in the 80s (ha). by jojo aguilar.

but i came home a couple of weeks ago to a wonderful surprise--a new painting (which is now my profile picture everywhere online). i hope it's not horribly vain and wrong of me to love this as much as a i do. (forgive me, if so.) but as i told him, that's me now, but on my best day, and exactly how i'd want to portray myself to others. big thank you hug to him for the new "me."

painting by jojo aguilar

he's another amazing talent in my family. visit his blog to see more of his work (also perma-linked on the sidebar). funny, he's got his resume up there as a post, so you can see the long list of animation projects to his credit.

mad men and a funny lady

tomorrow, one or more of my friends at work is going to ask me what i did this weekend.
and when i tell them about my sunday, and the fact that i spent nearly every hour of it inside my little apartment, i will feel not a hint of embarrassment.

why?

it's a very humid 91 degrees out.
and
there's a MAD MEN MARATHON on AMC.
why leave home?

it's impossible to escape the buzz and the acclaim (16 emmy nominations...), so don't bother.
don't try to resist it.
just hunker down with the complete season 1 dvd set.
try to pick the top 5 of 500 lines worth repeating, if only for the kick of letting them slip from your lips...(that sandwich is making me sad...i bet daily friendship with that bottle attracts more people to advertising than any salary you could dream of...)
let all of the sexy, stylish intrigue waft over you like a million smoke rings...
and let the smell of it stick to you until season 2 premieres next sunday, at 10pm.

photo via http://www.amctv.com/originals/madmen/

***

a couple of years ago, at a get together with my younger cousins, i very reluctantly joined them to watch the dvd of best friends. i cringed through the first several scenes, until anna faris delivered the line, "god, i want to lick your skin off." i almost spit up my coca-cola. she plays a britney-jessica-ashley "musician" type with the kind of ridiculous gusto a role like that deserves. ever since then, she's been on my list of favorite funny ladies (with judy greer).

behold, she's featured in this week's nytimes sunday magazine, with several other "funny faces."

love her. she's like a super-hot nellie oleson? in any case, super hot.

anna faris photographed by ruven afanador

one last (but certainly not least) thing: ms. faris is wearing a ring (left hand, 4th finger) by philip crangi, an amazing jewelry designer that my sister has studied with. she's always spoken glowingly of him, and i've become a huge fan...

you may have seen him featured in a recent gap ad , or heard that he's been collaborating with vera wang for a line of jewelry for her spring 2008 and (upcoming) fall 2008 collections.

the nytimes photo doesn't allow you to appreciate his work (understatement of the day?), so check out some of his designs at barneys....and of course, on his website, philipcrangi.com.