I’m doing a jewelry giveaway with DC blogger Emily Kate Hargrove!

See entry instructions at http://www.emilykatehargrove.com/2013/03/04/monday-giveaway-melissa-lew/ and good luck!

Hello!  Any orders placed now until Monday, February 18th will be fulfilled (shipped) by Wednesday, February 20th (unless it is a custom or made to order item).  My apologies for any inconvenience.

Cooley LLP Holiday Craft Fair
Tuesday, November 27th from 11am to 2pm
Cooley LLP
11951 Freedom Dr.
15th Floor
Reston, VA 20190

10% of all sales will be donated to Becky’s Fund.

 

Sewall-Belmont’s Holiday Bazaar
Thursday, November 29th from 11am to 7pm
Sewall-Belmont House & Museum
144 Constitution Avenue, NE
Washington, DC 20002

 

Falls Church Holiday Craft Show
Saturday, December 1st from 9am to 4pm
Sunday, December 2nd from 11am to 4pm
Falls Church Community Center
223 Little Falls Street
Falls Church, VA

Will have lots of new work!  Thank you again for your wonderful support!

Come see me at GET FASHION in DC on Friday 11/16 from 6p-11p! 700 H ST NE!  I will be there with Jennifer Elizabeth Miller of The JEM Collection showing our love project line.  We will continue to donate 50% of the proceeds of the love project sales to the Red Cross’ Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund!  The event is free.

“Know Fashion” – www.knowfashiondc.com presents “Get Fashion” – a fashion retail, music, food, and art event showcasing local designers and vendor retail pop-ups from 6-11pm, live musical performances from 10pm-2am featuring: DJ Skim with special performances by Pree, Gems and Margot Macdonald, exclusive H Street food vendors such as Carolina BBQ, B Café, H and Pizza, and Impala, and artwork featured in the Submerge exhibition by No Kings Collective (submergedc.com). Get Fashion is sponsored by: Redbull, Bluemoon, Pilsner Urquell, Honest Tea, Tweli, car2go, Twice as Warm, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, and Filibuster.

 

Saturday, November 3, 2012 starting at 1pm
Outback Steakhouse Redmill Commons

If you’re in the VA Beach area on November 3rd, please stop by and help support this great org! The Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters & Sons is Virginia’s only freestanding, full-service pediatric hospital, treating children from birth through age 21 and is the state’s only dedicated pediatric emergency center. As a not-for-profit hospital committed to quality medical care for all children, they provide care regardless of a family’s ability to pay. CHKD’s service area includes nearly 2 million people and also treats children from across the United States and around the world. I am honored to attend this event and I hope we can help lots of children that day! 50% of all of my sales will be donated to La Concha, so please come out and support them!

Now’s your chance to get a jump on your Holiday shopping at the FINAL Ballston Arts Market of the season on Saturday, October 13th from 10 AM – 4 PM!

TWO LIVE BANDS: Snakehead Run & Threesound!

FREE admission
FREE Ballston Arts Market tote bag to early visitors
FREE raffle to win an artisan basket worth $250
FREE live music
FREE demos by select artists

Saturday, October 13, 2012 from 10am to 4pm
Welburn Square at the Ballston Metro

http://ballstonarts-craftsmarket.blogspot.com/

Hope to see you there!

Walk This Way 2012
Becky’s Fund’s Annual Charity Fashion Show
October 4, 2012 from 6:30 pm to 10:00 pm
Kastles Stadium, 800 Water Street SW, Washington DC, 20024

I’ll be onsite selling the Becky’s Fund line of jewelry (will be on sale!) and also have donated a piece to the silent auction (one of my silver pieces from the soon to be published Art and Design of Metal Clay Jewelry and More 2013.  Let’s join together to end DV!

More info:  http://www.beckysfund.org/2012-walk-this-way-fashion-show-tickets-are-officially-on-sale-today/

Purchase tickets: https://www.walkthiswayevent.com/

 

Taste of FACETS
Saturday, October 20, 2012 from 7:00 – 9:30 PM
Stacy C. Sherwood Community Center
3740 Old Lee Highway
Fairfax, Virginia 22030

Unfortunately, many people in our community are struggling to meet their basic needs – let’s join together to help FACETS break the cycle of poverty in Fairfax County by attending this year’s Taste of FACETS event on October 20th. Tickets are available at https://facets.ejoinme.org/?tabid=405698 and I have donated a selection of prints and jewelry to their silent auction.

 

La Concha Circle’s 20th Annual Charity Auction
Saturday, November 3, 2012 starting at 1pm
Outback Steakhouse Redmill Commons

If you’re in the VA Beach area on November 3rd, please stop by and help support this great org! The Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters & Sons is Virginia’s only freestanding, full-service pediatric hospital, treating children from birth through age 21 and is the state’s only dedicated pediatric emergency center. As a not-for-profit hospital committed to quality medical care for all children, they provide care regardless of a family’s ability to pay. CHKD’s service area includes nearly 2 million people and also treats children from across the United States and around the world. I am honored to attend this event and I hope we can help lots of children that day! 50% of all of my sales will be donated to La Concha, so please come out and support them!

For more information, please visit https://www.facebook.com/LaConchaCircle.

Just received the good news! Contemplation will be published in The Art and Design of Metal Clay Jewelry and More (2013 Calendar)!

For more details, please visit http://www.hollygage.com/pages/theartanddesignofmetalclayjewelrycalendar.html.

Press Release: The Art and Design of Metal Clay Jewelry and More 2013 to be released end of October 2012 

The Art and Design of Metal Clay Jewelry and More Calendar 2013 published by Holly Gage of Gage Designs is scheduled for release at the end of October 2012. The 28 page collectors’ calendar features a variety of jewelry and other sculptural creations made from the newest and most innovative material to hit the jewelry world in years, Metal Clay. The calendar highlights diverse work from artists around the world brought together in this one dynamic publication of influential metal clay designs.

Holly Gage, the creator of The Art and Design of Metal Clay Jewelry and More 2013 8 ½ x 11 wall calendar had a goal in mind when she created the calendar six years ago.  “I wanted to increase awareness of this fantastic medium both within and outside of the jewelry community while showcasing the talents of my peers.  I think the calendar really illustrates the type of detail and artistry being achieved using Metal Clay,” Holly said.

The Art and Design of Metal Clay Jewelry and More 2013 is a juried publication that receives over 300 photos for review.  Out of these photos, 42 of the highest quality and most innovative designs are selected to be featured. This year’s jurors were Christopher C. Darway, Terry Kovalcik, and Christine Norton.  Photographer Corrin Kovalcik was the photography consultant.

The jury had the following to say about the process:

Christopher C. Darway stated, “When I encounter a piece of work I expect to learn something new. As a jurist I look for innovative use of material both technically and in its design. With any “new” material I first apply old design ideas and familiar techniques and work the material until I become comfortable with it.  I believe this normal for most of us. But comfortable is not a place you want to be as an artist. An artist takes us to a different place. Of the 300 or so images we looked at for the calendar project the ones that had that special something were obvious to all of us. There were really good designs where execution was not equal to the idea. These did not make the cut. Other times a poor image prevented us having a good read on the piece. It would be wonderful to handle each piece but that is impossible. All in all the metal clay community has come a long way in the short 15 years this material has been available to us. Imagine the next 15, 30, 60 years? In a hundred years?”

Terry Kovalcik said, “The best impressions of the 300+ pieces submitted for consideration in the The Art and Design of Metal Clay Jewelry and More 2013 calendar is that the work continues to grow and evolve to inspire us all. As the number of alternative metal clay materials and surface treatments grow, a more complex body of new work can be seen emerging from the community. In regards to photographing jewelry, it’s one of the hardest things to capture well. Creating a terrific piece is only part of the process. If the photograph doesn’t capture the intended beauty it will be lost to the viewer. Therefore, every artist needs to bring the same critical eye to photographing their jewelry as they do to the design and creation of their work.”

Christine Norton joined the team this year not only as Holly’s apprentice and juror but also publishing assistant.  “Being invited to sit in on this jury with Chris, Terry and Holly was both a great honor and a tremendous learning experience.  The discussion surrounding each piece was very thoughtful and intense.  We would frequently agree in our scoring but for different reasons and it was interesting hearing what the others were seeing.  I will definitely be approaching my work with new eyes going forward.”

“The jurying is an intense process,” says Holly Gage, “and what interests me most is how the jury panel affects the results each year. Each juror comes to the table as an accomplished artisan with their own Metal Clay experiences and quite different backgrounds. Chris as a metalsmith, certifying instructor and Master’s Registry panel evaluator; Terry as an illustrator, certified instructor and certifying instructor; and Christine as an apprentice, and juror and co-creator of New Directions: Powder Metallurgy (Metal Clay) in a Sheet Metal World. Although each person judged on the same 5 criteria: Innovation, Craftsmanship, High Degree of Excitement, Unique Use of Metal Clay and Degree of Challenge, all of these factors are evaluated through their own personal lenses of experience with students, careers, and design sensibility.”

The artist’s work that you can expect to see are:  Kate Qualley Peterson on the cover, and Christi Anderson, Lorena Angulo, Lisa Barth, Barbara Becker Simon, Julie Beucherie, Jude Carmona, Catherine Davies Paetz, Lila Diamantopoulou, Evelyn Dombkowski, Jonna Faulkner, Joy Funnell, Sophia Georgiopoulou, Liz Hall, Vickie Hallmark, erin l.m. harris, Chu-mei Ho, Kim Jakum, Melissa Lew, Anna Mazon, Laragh McMonagle, Suzanne McNenly, Lesley Messam, Sandy Mikel, Rachel Miller, Kimberly Nogueira, Simone Patout Palmer, Monique Perry, Izabela Safin, Louise Shadonix, Deb Steele, Shannon Steele, Karolina Stefanska, Sally Stevens, Wanaree Tanner, Gordon Uyehara, Priscilla Vassao, Michela Verani, Christopher C. Darway, Terry Kovalcik, Christine Norton, and Holly Gage.

The Art and Design of Metal Clay Jewelry and More will take a new face in the following years. Starting in 2014 it will officially be published as a book.  Holly promises to maintain the same quality and event information as in the calendar and says, “ With the growth of the Metal Clay community, it seems logical for the publication to grow as well. This will open up opportunities for the exposure of additional artists whose work should be shown to the world.”  To see the prospectus for 2014, visit http://www.HollyGage.com.

The Art and Design of Metal Clay Jewelry 2013 is a must have for jewelry lovers and makers alike. There will be a limited printing of the calendar, which will be released at the end of October 2012. The calendar will sell for $23.50 plus shipping. For a sneak peek and to reserve your copy, go to http://www.HollyGage.com.

Ballston Arts & Crafts Market
Saturday, September 8, 2012 from 10am to 4pm
Welburn Square at the Ballston Metro

http://ballstonarts-craftsmarket.blogspot.com/

Hope to see you there!

“Through the years, her jewelry business has continued to grow as well. Her work is available for sale at the Asia Society and Museum Asia Store in New York and monthly at the Ballston Arts Market in Arlington. In recent years, several of her pieces have won international honors.

Her newfound faith has influenced her art in a major way, she said. She sees making jewelry as a kind of meditation. Taking inspiration from her Chinese heritage and a deep respect for nature, she tries to create jewelry that is eco-friendly, using sustainable materials like bamboo and recycled silver. Often her pieces depict flowers, fish and other animals.”

To read more, please visit http://catholicherald.com/stories/Faith-and-art-combined,20007.