The world is round; A brief personal history.

simplywoodrings from manifestmedia on Vimeo.

My company Simply Wood Rings began in 2005. 

My father was a carpenter, so wood was always a readily available material when I was a child. I would often pick up scraps and carve out swords or small animals. In addition to my fathers work, he greatly enjoyed creating jewelry. Often, I would joyfully accompany him to workshops and watch him create. Since I was young when my father passed, these moments with him are some of my most cherished in life.   

After a short stint at the Art Institute of Chicago, I attended the Chicago Bauhaus where I learned the fine craft of woodworking. It was there that I explored traditional methods associated with cabinetry. I learned quickly that in the world of woodworking, due to it's long history, tradition is extremely important and unchanging. As a wood worker you are told the world is flat.

I took a short leave of absence from creating. I met the love of my life, Juanita, we married and had two beautiful boys, Gabriel and Diego. My family is a source of great pride, joy and support for me. 

One day my wife asked me if I could create a ring made of wood since she could not wear metal jewelry due to an allergy. I gave it some thought and decided that a ring carved out of wood would not be strong enough as the grain would run across the structure. A few days later my wife came to me again and asked if wood could be bent into a ring. I brushed off her suggestion saying that the thickness of the wood would not allow this. A few days later, for the third time, my wife came to me with a piece of paper. She began rolling the paper and asked if this could be done to create a ring. This, I thought, might just work. The method can be paralleled with the technique of laminate wood. Using the long grain in a circular form creates a strong ring structure. 

It was my wife who helped me to see that the world was actually round. My company Simply Wood Rings was born from this request and it is how I came to be an art jeweler. 

The initial idea behind Simply Wood Rings was to create a shift in a long standing value system. Rather than imbedding the idea of forever into these sacred objects, which symbolize a lifelong connection between two people, these rings create an awareness of the present. They symbolize the love between two people, a love that requires a nurturing consciousness. Beyond even that love, they represent a fragile life on this Earth that is precious, but not everlasting.

Wood is engrained with a primal and ancient beauty, a beauty that has been taken for granted. For centuries wood has cleaned the air, provided shelter, warmth, and food. It is an intrinsic part of our history as humans. Just as the love between two people requires conscious effort, so does a ring made of wood. In the same way as the material, the life we live on Earth will eventually find it's way back to the ground.  

The opportunity to create rings that symbolize a lifelong commitment is truly an honor. You may visit the Simply Wood Rings Website for more information. 

Silver, Rosewood & Moissenite

Beechwood & Turqoise

Bogwood & Sand

Woodworker... it's an honest word. -Sam Maloof

Sam Maloof (1916 - 2009)

Sam Maloof is one of the few male figures I respect as much as my own father. He once said he was simply a woodworker by his own account – to the rest of the world, he was a giant. His impact on my life is beyond words.

Maloof rose to greatness during the post war minimalist period of architecture. Sam’s desire to create organically modern furniture is described by author/ photographer of Maloof Beyond 90 -An American Woodworker Gene Sasse, “Sam approached each project with more than just an exacting eye for design and detail. Wood was carefully selected. Cut, honed, polished and joined together; ultimately the pieces of once living trees are resurrected to a new life as functional objects of the highest artistic merit.”

In my mind, creation is a desire for our minds to expand beyond our physicality into a collective intellectual space. In this sense, whatever object becomes of this extension is in turn, a physical manifestation of the desire and the deep psychology of the artist. The work of Maloof evokes a strong reaction within my spirit. The beautiful forms he created suggest a man who was deeply connected to the material and at the same time showed a deep well of sensitivity to the world. 

Although he was a re-known woodworker who experienced fame and fortune, he never faltered in his philosophy and honesty to his craft. He always considered himself a woodworker, he said, "it's an honest word."

Resources:

Sam Maloof Website

Maloof Foundation Website

Studio Craft in Craft Forms at the Wayne Art Center

Tie Me Not Neckpiece featured in CraftForms 2011

Victoria Donohoe from the Philadelphia Inquirer recently reviewed a show my work is featured in called Craft Forms at the Wayne Art Center in Philly. 

I was very honored to be selected for the show! 125 works are featured by 109 artists chosen from 894 entries. 

Donohue posits the idea that, 

"The installation of 21st-century studio crafts in the 17th International Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Craft, "CraftForms 2011," at Wayne Art Center suggests to this observer that there's a paradoxical "homelessness" about the craft art of our century."

Great article! Check it out here! Craft Forms Review

Edge of Nature Ring featured in CraftForms 2011

Edge of Nature Ring - Detail

Ice Cube speaks to Eames

Worth a watch. I never new Ice Cube studied architecture. 

Nakashima Inspired Art Jewelry

"To be intimate with nature in its multifaceted moods is one of the greatest experiences of life."

-George Nakashima


The Key Ring was one of my first rings and is an homage to George Nakashima. Nakashima was an innovative woodworker and furniture maker whose inhale and exhale matched that of the material he used. His elegant works represent the American Craft Movement.

His reverence for nature rests in his sensitive designs. His signature technique was a joint he called the 'butterfly joint' which acted as a key, holding weak points of wood together by it's simple shape. In the beginning, he would hide this technique under table tops. Once he was more established and respected he began using the key joint not only as a functional element but also as a decorative one. I find great inspiration in his innovation and by the ways in which he expressed the intrinsic beauty of nature. 


Visit his site for more on the great Nakashima here: http://www.nakashimawoodworker.com/

Key Ring by Gustav Reyes

Table by George Nakashima

Butterfly Joint detail by Nakashima

Brooches: Contemporary Art Jewelry Staple?

Since entering the world of art jewelry, I have struggled with validity of the Brooch. For one, throughout history, brooches have never been a common adornment for men. In their early days, brooches were used as a functional object which held garments in place. Functionality eventually gave way to pure adornment. However, whether it was serving a functional purpose or simply to adorn the body brooches have been incorporated into wardrobes for thousands of years. (For some great examples of brooches throughout history, visit here.)

In a new world of alternative materials, techniques and concepts in jewelry making, how valid is the brooch? When I began making jewelry, I noticed that the brooch seemed to be a staple in many accomplished art jewelers collections. I wondered whether it was simply a long standing prerequisite or if brooches were actually something appreciators sought. During my research I came across an exhibition featuring brooches at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art curated by Jan Katz. According to Katz, "Brooches are a small sculpture, a small canvas but a big statement." Katz organized the show Brooching the Subject : One of a Kind. I can connect my work to the way in which Katz explains arts jewelry as "... not [being] prized for the weight of the stones or the value of the metals. It's prized for the sculptural or narrative quality, or just its beauty." 

Art jewelry goes beyond crafted adornments because the emphasis is not placed on the value of the material but on the value of the concepts. This gives artists freedom to create something more personally meaningful and with more intention. In a way the wearer is the canvas and the brooch, a masterpiece that may express a mood, a feeling or a facet of the adorner who consciously chooses to let it become an extension of their existence. 

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It just so happens, that at the moment, brooches are trendy for men. Are you man enough? View this blog on the brooches for men trend. 

Christmas Gift for the New Shop!

I had a stroke of genius this month. Since our new shop does not include a proper sink... and since all of my assistants each drink a gallon of coffee a day, I purchased a Keurig Coffee Maker. If you're not familiar, these machines make just one cup. To cover some of the cost, I've asked for a quarter a cup. 

My assistant, Erin, created this 'piggy bank'.