Designs By Kaska

Monday, January 23, 2012

ICE, FOG, AND PRETTY GEMS

We got our first ice storm of the season this past weekend here in Ohio. Freezing rain fell late on Friday and covered everything in ice. Usually, the next day after the freezing rain the sun comes out and everything sparkles like there are diamonds everywhere, in the grass and the trees. This time though it was gray and gloomy. Then it started warming up on Sunday and as the ice begun to melt the fog came out. Spooky! But kind of cool, too.

Then it really warmed up and we had thunder and lighting and heavy rain last night. Thunder and lightning in January?!!! In Ohio?!!!!

To cheer myself up went to check out a bead show that was in town last weekend. Saw some pretty awesome stuff and couldn't resist buying some of it.

Here are some of my spoils.

A strand of ritulated quartz drops. Yum!

Faceted amethyst drops, amethyst, moonstone, and iolite beads.

Kyanite, labradorite and moonstone drops.

It was almost 60 degrees today! Crazy weather! Maybe it will snow tomorrow.

Have a nice evening!

2 comments:

Kat FirorJanuary 26, 2012 at 9:53 AM
Whoa, VERY nice choices :) Can we do Wedding jewelry in some of this stuff? I see you finally got that Kyanite strand we were drooling over last time :)
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About Me

Kaska, an award winning jewelry artist, has been involved in various arts all her life. In 1988 she graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a BA in Interior Design. Her
interests in other arts and a strong desire to create with her hands led her to pursue other creative avenues as well. She has spent time with clay sculpture, stained glass, and sawing eventually arriving at wire art.

Kaska has been designing and crafting wire jewelry since the summer of 2000, when she took her first instruction in that medium. Since then she continued to advance her skills in jewelry arts - wire, lapidary, silver-smiting, metal clay, chain-making, glass fusing, and wire weaving - by attending William Holland School of Lapidary Arts in Georgia, taking classes provided by local and visiting artists, and through her own experimentation with various tools and materials.

Kaska displays and sells her work at 10 to 15 shows each year. She teaches wire-wrapping, wire-weaving and chain-making classes locally at her studio and and AllyBeads Shop in Milford, OH, as well as nationally including Interweave Bead Fest in Philadelphia, PA.

Kaska’s other interests include: downhill skiing, Taekwondo (2nd degree black belt), hiking, cooking, reading, and writing. Most of all she enjoyers spending time with her three children, Katherine, Robert and Chris, and her husband Tom.

Awards:
2nd place in Fine Arts- Madison-Chautauqua Arts Festival, 2011
1st place, Cane Park Arts Festival 2011
1st place, Madison-Chautauqua Arts Festival 2009,
1st place, Mariemont Art Show 2009,
3rd place, Upper Arlington Labor Day Art Show 2009
3rd place, Hyde Park Square Art Show 2009
3rd place, Wyoming Art Show 2009 and 2011.

Published Articles:
Leaf Bracelet, Step by Step Wire Jewelry,
June-July 2010, Weave Earring, Step by Step Jewelry, fall 2009
Woven/Braided Bracelet, Art Jewelry, March 2012 issue

Books:
Freeform Wire-Woven Jewelry to bepublished in November, 2013.

Artist Statement

Creating with wire is my way to open my inner self to the
world. Each piece I make is like a page from my journal, encapsulating my emotions and holding within it the record of my struggles and triumphs. Working with my hands, transforming raw materials into beautiful, usable objects, I feel a sense of continuity, a connection to the ancestry of my craft.

In designing my jewelry I use traditional and innovating
wire techniques as well as those borrowed from the textile and basket-weaving arts. Knitting, weaving, crocheting and manipulating the wire, I constantly look for new and more challenging ways of using and combining the techniques, as well as interesting ideas for incorporating stones, beads and other elements into my designs.

I prefer to use materials with lasting beauty and strength:
fine metals, precious and semi-precious stones, hand-crafted glass, unique carvings and other one-of-a-kind objects.

My inspiration comes from endlessly varied shapes in nature,
interesting architectural elements, everyday objects, beautiful tools, graceful musical instruments, other artists’ work, and many other things in the rich world around me.

My
goal is to create pieces that are visually complex, provide tactile variety and inspire curiosity.