Ornament Print Edition Volume 42.4

Welcome to this special edition of Ornament Magazine! In our new Jewelry Issue, we pay homage to the late Ornament Coeditor, Carolyn L.E. Benesh, and the connections she forged with jewelry artists over forty-six years. Glen R. Brown revisits the work of Thomas Gentille, who was first covered by Carolyn back in 1984. Brown discusses the finely tuned beauty of his work, often using materials not traditionally considered for adornment, like eggshell, horn, acrylic, plywood, and paint, made according to his mindful steps of consideration.

Patrick R. Benesh-Liu remembers and celebrates the life of Ornament Coeditor Carolyn Benesh through her jewelry collection, which was the material avenue for countless friendships and connections that she made with jewelry artists over almost five decades.

Carl Little illuminates the resilient path of Melinda Risk. The pandemic has changed the lives of many, but Risk’s walks and observations of animals in the local woods gave her a new direction in her jewelry. Spirit animals were added to her unique dolls’ head jewelry, giving her both motivation and ability to continue.

Robert K. Liu explores a new category of the rare Roman mosaic face bead after decades of research. The courtesan bead now joins the depictions of Gorgon and Medusa. Of the hundreds of studied beads, there are only three examples, connecting makers of face bead canes with those who made the more complex and larger mosaic theatre masks.