{"id":1830,"date":"2015-05-05T18:16:58","date_gmt":"2015-05-05T18:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/?p=1830"},"modified":"2015-05-05T18:16:58","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T18:16:58","slug":"from-the-city-to-the-studio-solving-fabrication-challenges-with-alison-antelman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/2015\/05\/05\/from-the-city-to-the-studio-solving-fabrication-challenges-with-alison-antelman\/","title":{"rendered":"From the city to the studio: solving fabrication challenges with Alison Antelman"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.antelman.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Alison Antelman<\/a> studied television production but, bitten by the metal bug, began to to explore the world of jewelry making. Today she is a multi-award winning artist who has come full circle.<\/p>\n<p>Alison\u2019s work is easily recognizable. Her jewelry sparkles with natural stones set in recycled gold against a backdrop of lustrous, oxidized silver. It fittingly recalls the cityscapes of Manhattan near New Jersey where she grew up. There is one particular landmark\u00a0 she will never forget. \u201cThe Empire State Building,\u201d she recalled. \u201cThat image always stayed with me. That and the lights reflecting off the water.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/blog\/5-15-Metropolis-bracelet.jpg\" alt=\"Metropolis Bracelet\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><strong>&#8220;Metropolis III&#8221; bracelet, by Alison Antelman.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Alison\u2019s jewelry brings to mind what she describes as a city\u2019s \u201ccanyons and peaks,\u201d an urban landscape transferred to the body, teeming with energy and liveliness. Her technique and execution for \u201cMetropolis Bracelet\u201d garnered First Place in the 2014 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.centerformetalarts.com\/foldform-competition.html\" target=\"_blank\">Charles Lewton-Brain Foldforming Competition<\/a>, as well as a Juror\u2019s Choice for her \u201cHanging Garden Ring.\u201d A necklace from her Hanging Gardens collection, characterized by her signature foldformed spiculums and 18 karat gold cable, earned her a 2015 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nicheawards.com\/2015-winners\/alison-antelman-2\/\" target=\"_blank\">Niche Award<\/a> in the silver category. The prestigious honor is sponsored by <em>Niche Magazine<\/em> to recognize excellence and innovation in fine craft.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/blog\/5-15-Hanging-Garden-Ring.jpg\" alt=\"Hanging Garden Ring\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><strong>&#8220;Hanging Garden Ring in Red&#8221; by Alison Antelman.<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0Alison met her husband, Eric, during her last semester at Emerson College in Boston. The two were ready for a change, so they headed to the West Coast in search of a walkable city with less intimidating weather. The Bay Area fit the bill. She maintains a studio in the historic Sawtooth Building in West Berkeley. Her introduction to metals began at City College of San Francisco and continued at the Richmond Art Center, north of Berkeley, where she taught for two years from 2006 to 2008.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of the great things about teaching is that you are exposed to so much. When students wanted to learn something, we\u2019d just sit down and play,\u201d she said. Her urban-inspired designs arose from such sessions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen you\u2019re playing with foldforming, things seep into your mind. I had been playing with foldforming, I\u2019d been making spiculums, I\u2019d done foldforming in spiculums, I had three craft shows (coming up), and I was moving into a new space. So much was happening,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>The new environment gave her a motivational surge, the end result being her first \u201cMetropolis\u201d bracelet. Her husband urged her to enter the foldforming competition, because, as he said, she already had the photos. \u201cIt\u2019s nice to have someone push you into it.\u201d Incidentally, Eric is an expert small-parts photographer. He handles the graphic design, photography, and her website, and she does everything else. She wears many hats!<\/p>\n<p>She has no assistants and makes all her jewelry herself. She loves the spiculum form and uses no special tools, only her beloved Peddinghaus hammer and a block of wood. Her unique keyhole clasps are beautifully incorporated to her bracelets and necklaces, and can be \u201cmorphed\u201d to anyone\u2019s design style. She is currently developing a collection in her Horizon series that she calls \u201cGlimmering Sunshine,\u201d inspired by the \u201cfireball sunsets\u201d that she sees in California.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/blog\/5-15-Glimmering-Sunshine_necklace.jpg\" alt=\"Glimmering Sunshine necklace\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><strong>&#8220;Glimmering Sunshine&#8221; necklace by Alison Antelman.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Alison comes to Metalwerx June 17-20 to teach \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/workshop\/734\" target=\"_blank\">Engineering Your Way Out: Alternative Fabrication Solutions<\/a>.\u201d It is geared to advanced beginners with basic fabrication and soldering skills and professionals. In the class, Alison will share her tips for solving common design and fabrication challenges. Students will complete a hinged bracelet or necklace with a hand-made clasp, and will learn to create a \u201cmap\u201d of their project\u2014a personal blueprint of the process that gives the maker a reference as the piece evolves. The workshop is the first of Metalwerx\u2019s annual <a href=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/class#1.%20Summer%20with%20the%20Masters%20Workshops\" target=\"_blank\">Summer with the Masters Series<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/blog\/5-15-Alison_with_tools.jpg\" alt=\"Alison Antelman with tools\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><strong>Alison at the Crested Butte Art Fair, Crested Butte, CO.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Alison\u2019s work is featured in the Belmont, Massachusetts gallery <a href=\"http:\/\/alchemy925.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Alchemy 925<\/a> exhibit, \u201cThe Power and the Beauty.\u201d The juried exhibit coincides with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.snagmetalsmith.org\/conferences\/impact-looking-back-forging-forward\/home-2\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Society of North American Goldsmiths<\/a> (SNAG) conference (May 20-23, Boston) and includes more than 25 contemporary jewelry artists. SNAG attendees can see the exhibit on the Thursday night Exhibition Crawl or the Saturday evening Gallery Hop.<\/p>\n<p>While in Boston, Alison hopes to visit the Edgar Allen Poe statue in the Boston Common. She is a great fan of the native son who had much disdain for his hometown. \u201cHis writing is phenomenal,\u201d she said. \u201cThe whole way he uses language and description, you could get a picture! He\u2019s scary and it appeals to some ghoulish part of me.\u201d Every October, she pulls out her book of Poe stories to read.<\/p>\n<p><img class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/blog\/5-15-Poe-Statue.jpg\" alt=\"Boston statue of Edgar Allen Poe\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\"><em><strong>E.A. Poe on his way to work at the corner of Boylston and Charles streets, Boston.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"http:\/\/www.metalwerx.com\/workshop\/734\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a> to learn more about and register for Alison\u2019s workshop, or contact Metalwerx at 781-891-3857.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u2014by Yleana Martinez<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alison Antelman studied television production but, bitten by the metal bug, began to to explore the world of jewelry making. Today she is a multi-award winning artist who has come full circle. Alison\u2019s work is easily recognizable. Her jewelry sparkles with natural stones set in recycled gold against a backdrop of lustrous, oxidized silver. It [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/143"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1830"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1861,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1830\/revisions\/1861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/userblogs.ganoksin.com\/metalwerx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}