Ornament Digital Volume 39.2

In this issue, Robert K. Liu details how talented jeweler and enamelist David Freda recreates nature to a degree previously unknown. Using techniques that he developed or refined, Freda has created a series of plant and animal jewelry that can rival historic makers like Lalique or the Blaschkas.

David Updike covers this year’s PMA show, where nearly twenty-six percent of the one hundred and ninety-five artists are new exhibitors. He gives us an indepth view of several of the emerging artists and newcomers, giving potential visitors a small taste of the excellent work on display. As always, members of the top craftspeople in the field are represented in this premier craft show, whose proceeds benefit the museum.

Fritz Falk, former director of the noted Schmuckmuseum Pforzheim, describes the international effort to put together an exhibition of jewelry relating to elements of our solar system and the cosmos, drawn from museums and private collections.

Kathleen Richert retells the life of Susan Bradley. Growing up in a Minnesota home where sewing was a family interest, Bradley studied design and pattern making. Her life took her in a different direction as a flight attendant for the next thirty years, frequently on international routes to Japan. This detour brought about a love affair with Japanese textiles, which became incorporated into her stylish clothing.

Glen R. Brown reviews Denver Art Museum’s exhibition on colonial era Latin American jewelry and portraiture, the latter often showing examples of personal adornment of precious metals and pearls worn by women and men.