Colorful Afternoon at the 8th Annual Artisan Fair at the De Young Museum Store – San Francisco

by Robyn Hawk on December 3, 2014


Sending a BIG Thank You out to my little sister, Dawn, for agreeing to cover the 8th Annual Artisan Fair at the De Young Museum Store over the weekend….

Dawn Hawk is a multi talented woman with a couple degrees and a job giving money away to deserving groups and individuals in San Francisco Bay Area.  

…oh, and she LOVES Jewelry!


Colorful Afternoon at the 8th Annual Artisan Fair 
at the De Young Museum Store – San Francisco

I dashed into the Holiday Artisan Fair (8th Annual) at the DeYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, following an excellent exhibition on Keith Haring’s exuberant and political paintings.

The first jewelry artist was none other than local Oakland Jeweler Philippa Roberts.  Philippa’s store on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland is where I take out of town visitors to see her stunning jewelry
(made on site in the workshop behind the counter). It was great to finally meet the jeweler and to be able to gush in person over
her gold and chalcedony collection, which has always been my
favorite.

You can find her online at: http://www.philipparoberts.com/
…and Facebook at:http://www.facebook.com/PhilippaRobertsJewelry

The next jeweler was with Paz Collective, which works with artisans in Mexico and India (Jaipur).
Their gorgeous catalog states “Life is too short to wear just one bracelet” and the jewelry artist was rocking a stack of gemstone “rockstar” bracelets.  (several photos)  The rockstar bracelet in rough aquamarine was my favorite, which was set off beautifully next to a rockstar bracelet in rough pyrite. 

Inspired by the ancient artisans of Mexico, PAZ COLLECTIVE began creating and selling handcrafted sterling silver jewelry in the early 2000’s. In 2002, the blockbuster traveling show “The Mexican Silver Renaissance” opened at The San Antonio Museum of Art. The curator invited PAZ to provide all of the jewelry for the gift shops in conjunction with the exhibit.

Due to soaring silver prices in 2011, PAZ COLLECTIVE expanded its workshops to Jaipur, India and began designing new pieces with bold, eye-catching gemstones.

PAZ COLLECTIVE continues to design quality jewelry for the hip, romantic, and daring woman. Designs are featured prominently in museum gift shops, boutiques, catalogs, and high-end department stores across the United States and Canada.

 You can find her online at: http://www.pazcollective.com/
…and on Facebook at:  https://www.facebook.com/thepazcollective
I spent most of the rest of my time at the deYoung with Hotcakes, which had hands down the most colorful and show stopping display of resin cast jewelry inspired by vintage bakelite.

I bonded immediately with the jewelery designer, Caramia Visick, when I pulled up the sleeve of my sweater to show off my Hotcakes “Iconic Hands of Renaissance Art” bracelet, which had been a favorite piece ever since I had picked it up, coincidentally, at Philippa Roberts’ shop in Oakland a year before.  

OMG, I said, I still covet the “Man Ray Eyes” bracelet I gave as a gift to my sister. Caramia said to head over to her San Francisco shop next week for one of my own.  


Caramia described the process of making a carving and a metal mold, from which she can cast about 50 resin pieces before needing to throw away the mold.  


I couldn’t take my eyes off her fun designs featuring diving swallows, cicadas, ravens, roses, carrier pigeons and poodles!  A black resin and onyx necklace with a pendant of Louise Brooks’ eyes stole my heart, and came home with me around my neck.  Caramia herself was beautifully showcasing a heart and bird necklace from her new Vintage Deco collection

Find her online at:  http://www.hotcakesdesign.com/
…and Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hotcakes-Design-Jewelry/253535638309

Take a minute to stop by the The De Young’s blog post featuring 3 different artisans:

http://deyoung.famsf.org/blog/holiday-artisan-fair

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