Enchanting Wearable Art
Compiled by Janice Mason
Fashion takes an artistic turn in a new exhibit opening tonight at the Art Center of Estes Park. Alice League has been designing one-of-a-kind wire-wrapped jewelry since 1998. Janice Kay has been knitting since she learned the craft in Brownies at age 8. Both stand ready to share their unique wearable designs with the public.
The Art Center of Estes Park will open the exhibit, “Enchanting Wearable Art,” tonight from 5 to 7 p.m. League and Kay will be present at the opening and refreshments will be served, sponsored by Wendy Koenig of Community Hearing Center. “Enchanting Wearable Art” will show through Nov. 16. Both artists were in the national juried show, “Lines into Shapes,” during 2007 and 2008. League received the First Place Jewelry Award in the recent 2008 “Lines Into Shapes” exhibit.
In 1989, League and her husband, Larry, began to pursue the development of a science museum to showcase their extensive collection of rock, minerals, fossils, mammals and dinosaur bones in North Dakota. They opened the Dakota Dinosaur Museum in 1994 and operate the museum May 1 through Labor Day. League is the museum executive director and her husband is the museum curator/collection manager. Since the museum is open during the summer months only, the League’s spend the winter in Estes Park.
“As a ‘winter-time resident’ of Estes Park, I had an opportunity to take a wire-wrapping class at the Art Center,” said League in her biography. “…I am also the gift shop manager for a museum, so I was looking for new jewelry items to reflect the museum’s mineral and fossil collection. Wire-wrapping cabochons and making bead earrings to sell in the gift shop sparked an interest in me. Thus, since 1999 I have been designing a variety of mineral and fossil pendants, bracelets, necklaces and earrings.”
After a 40-year career in community action and development, providing services to low-income people in North Dakota, League finds herself in numerous volunteer positions in Estes Park during the winter. She is currently offering accounting assistance to the Art Center and has served on the board of the center for six years. Board members asked her to submit her designs to the Art Center, so she now spends what spare time she has left making jewelry for the museum and the center.
“With so much time spent organizing people, projects and money, I didn’t have time to develop my creative side,” said League said in her biography. “So making a piece of wearable art from a piece of wire and a mineral cabochon brings out my creative side.”
League finds unique mineral and gem pieces for her jewelry, creating pendants, earrings, necklaces and bracelets from cabochons using the wire-wrapping technique. Cabochons are gemstones, which have been shaped and polished.
League’s wire-wrapping technique does not overpower the beauty of the chosen gemstone.
“I use 14/20 gold-filled or sterling silver square wire for my pendant creations,” League said in her biography. “Wire is so versatile that you are not limited to set sizes, shapes or materials. I like to let the item govern the wrap. I don’t want the wire to overpower the item and become the center of interest. Depending on the size and shape of the cabochon, I never know exactly how a piece will look until it is completed. The detail of the markings on each mineral or gem dictates the curve or bend of the wire. No two pieces are alike.
“I love to attend gem and mineral shows to find that unique mineral piece or natural beads that have different shapes. I use gold-filled and sterling findings for my earrings creating simple designs. While making my jewelry, the excitement and interest for me is in trying something new and different each time.”
League’s creations are on exhibit at the Art Center of Estes Park, the Madison & Main Gallery in Greeley and the Dakota Dinosaur Museum in Dickinson N.D.
Kay is a Navy Brat who grew up all over the world, and now uses international influences to inspire her designs. An award-winning fiber artist, Kay earned an undergraduate degree in fashion design from the University of Maryland. She is especially known for her beautiful blending of colors. Each item is exclusively hand-knit by Kay.
Her work is shown regularly at the Art Center of Estes Park and the Muse gallery in Longmont. She shows periodically at the Foothills Art Museum in Golden, the Lincoln Center in Ft. Collins and many other locations in Colorado.
The Art Center of Estes Park is a non-profit organization, which provides a facility to support and promote the work of local and regional artists. The proceeds benefit both the artist and contribute to the Art Center’s educational and community outreach programs.
The Art Center is located in middle
Stanley Village, across the street from the Visitors Center, at 517 Big Thompson Avenue. The Art Center is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
For more information, call 586-5882 or visit www.artcenterofestes.com.
Source: http://www.eptrail.com/news
