Bob!

I am so fortunate to be able to take a Bob Ebendorf / Jim Cotter class this summer at Penland! Then I expect to have another 3 years with Bob at ECU. Bob is the reason that I became interested in jewelry and metals in the first place, not only because of his work, but because also too, he's such a special person.

The last time I visited ECU, which happens to be in my home town, Greenville, NC, I picked up a similar rusted crushed can on the road during my run. Laying next to it was a beat-up plastic gem that wedged into a crease of the can perfectly. I gave it to Bob and he's going to make it into something fabulous!

 Here's a collection of some of Bob's charms:

You may recognize this piece from the exhibit at SECCA recently. Glasswear: Glass in Contemporary Jewelry. 

Elizabeth Yarborough

When my sister found out that I was interested in jewelry design she gasped and said that we must have lunch with her cousin, Elizabeth Yarborough! After browsing her website I excitedly agreed. With a sense of humor, and with an interest in deconstructing materials and stereotypes, she subverts traditional wardrobe and household staples and reintroduces them in surprising ways. I had the pleasure of speaking with her on the phone last summer, where gave me tons of helpful tips and words of wisdom. She recently opened a new boutique in San Francisco and featuring her sweater bangles called Yarbie, which has its own website.  

Yarbie Sweater Bangles:

Oh, and she's beautiful:

Laura Wood

I am so exciting about being able to attend Laura Wood's senior thesis show this Friday! In the past 3 years two different people have bought me a pair of her poppy paper earrings, and they are my favorite. She's graduating from East Carolina University with a MFA in the metals program, the same program I'll be enrolling in this coming fall. She's been working on a series of small jewelry objects covered in paper, I recently dropped off one of my mom's old watches for her to cover with abaca paper. She's oh so very talented and I absolutely love clicking through all of her work. 

Here are some of her poppy earrings:

She used sweet potatoes for the molds.

Here's an example of her found objects covered in paper:

She's also into sculpture:

you can follow her!

www.laurawoodstudios.com

www.laurawood.tumblr.com

www.ldeezy.etsy.com