Metalsmith Magazine. Vol 46 No 3

When we’re able to spend some time on the ecological quandaries that concern us, when we focus our attention and intention on possibilities and solutions, what’s within our control? What responsibility do we have, individually and collectively, to initiate change—no matter how small it may seem? What change might we effect when we acknowledge our part within the larger whole? This issue sidles up to these questions with a mix of optimism, reverence, and gravity.

In Voice and Vision, Harlan W. Butt’s enamelwork and haiku speak of the human impact on the natural world, sentiments Andrea Carrera echoes in Fresh Off the Bench. Both Findings and LOOK highlight artists intervening in or collaborating with organic materials— crystal growth in the former, artist-made biomaterials in the latter. In contrast, Junko Mori makes steel and sterling feel like living material, brought to life through myriad individual shapes with which she creates elaborate ecosystems of forms.

Kristin Beeler thoughtfully describes the entanglement of maker, material, and place in the work of several Scottish jewelry artists. Dorothy Joiner takes readers into the ocean’s depths in her feature on Barbara Mann. Meanwhile, RoseMary Diaz profiles three jewelry artists whose awe-inspiring micro-inlay reminds us we are but a small part of a vast universe.

Olivia Shih’s interview with Russell Larman sheds light on an underrecognized profession in the jewelry field: studio manager. And Alison Antelman takes us inside the historic hub collection of Potter USA—and the community built around it.

From the microscopic to the immeasurable, our field is an ecosystem in and of itself; we all influence our place in it.

/ Adriane Dalton, Editor.


Features:
- p.42 Terroir and the Case for Self-Authored Materials. Scottish jewelers attuned to place through materials. By Kristin Beeler.
- p.52 A Positive Vision Barbara Mann. An artist finds inspiration in the ocean carbon cycle. By Dorothy Joiner.
- p. 62 Aggregate Beauty The Work of Junko Mori. Countless tiny elements converge to create a world of steel and silver forms. By Becky Knott.


Departments:

• 6 FOREWORD.
• 10 CONTRIBUTORS.
• 18 VOICE & VISION: Harlan W. Butt.
• 20 FINDINGS: The Crystal Age by Sofie Boons.
• 24 VIEW: Continuum of Indigenous Expression by RoseMary Diaz.
• 28 FRESH OFF THE BENCH: Andrea Carrera.
• 30 ASK ME ANYTHING: Russell Larman by Olivia Shih.
• 34 COLLECT: Recordkeepers by Alison Antelman.
• 36 LOOK: Biomaterials Showcase by SNAG Editorial Team.
• 74 EVENTS CALENDAR: Happenings.
• 76 IN MEMORIAM.

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