Working Two Ways

Both types of work tend to influence each other in positive ways …

by Loretta Fontaine

s your work one-of-a-kind, production or a combination of both?

Illustration by Dave Fontaine

In my studio I make one-of-a-kind jewelry and I make pieces in multiples. I take a different approach to each. One-of-a-kind jewelry lets me indulge in new techniques and unusual materials, and I take my time finishing each piece. Multiples, or production work, need to be made efficiently with an eye toward an affordable cost.

What inspires me to make one-of-a-kind work? It’s a chance to shine.

An invitation to an exhibition last year produced my Gravid series. The other invited artists on the list were a pretty impressive bunch, so I put pressure on myself to design some striking pieces. My sketchbook was filled with doodles and drawings of new shapes to try. And I worked on delicately acid etching metal and prong setting druzy stones — two techniques I had never tried before. I had to push myself out of my comfort zone and it resulted in some of my favorite pieces yet.

A fold-forming book call for entries inspired me to make a special one-of-a-kind piece to submit. The ring I fabricated had a forged and fold-formed shank, and a bezel tab-set with a black and white photograph of a fern. I didn’t worry about how I was going to market this piece of jewelry — the ring’s value was in refining my technique and possibly getting published. Not having the constraints of “having to sell it” and focusing on experimenting can be liberating.

If you want to try a daring one-of-kind piece, look for a deadline to get going. The call for entries in the back of this magazine is a good start, as well as the submissions page on www.larkbooks.com.

But as thrilling as one-of-a-kind work is, I admit it’s the steady production work that pays my bills. It’s more affordable. There’s a larger audience out there for production work. It’s a chance to let everyone afford a piece of beautiful hand-crafted art. And I thrive on the challenge.

When I’m designing my “designer line,” the pieces I make in multiples, I think of my fabulous female friends and relatives as the people I’m making the jewelry for. These are women who are smart, talented and confident. But where I live, Kay’s Jewelers is the norm. There aren’t a lot of venues to even see great handcrafted jewelry. I design a necklace thinking it will be the most daring I can get away with, and my friends will still wear it when they go shopping for mint chocolate chip ice cream at the local Price Chopper Supermarket.

Nancy Goodenough of Monte Rio, Calif., pays the mortgage with her production jewelry of sterling silver and dichroic glass. But she “feeds her soul” with one-of-a-kind work. To find time to make that work she takes workshops in metal, glass and different media. “Usually these classes are the jumpstart for the one-of-a-kind pieces,” she says, “Many of those pieces have gone on to become winners or finalists for NICHE awards. And practically speaking, [my time spent at classes] is a hot bed of ideas to generate new production lines.”

Going back and forth between one-of-a-kind work and production work is a good balance for Donna Allgaier-Lamberti of Pullman, Mich. She’ll take a one- to three-month stretch to work on her large handmade paper collages on canvas, then switch to working on her production line of handmade sheets, stationery and note cards. “Because one-of-a-kind collages require a non-interrupted block of time and a deeper kind of thinking process, I work on those pieces during studio times when I’m not likely to be interrupted,” she says, “and after 15 years of making paper, I have the kinks worked out of my product line so production work for me is easier and almost by rote. I can do production work when I’m expecting a customer, have a visitor or am listening to loud music!”

I enjoy the freedom of making spectacular one-of-kind pieces. And I enjoy the challenge in making my production work the most artistic, yet affordable, it can be. Both types of work tend to influence each other in positive ways. For me, it’s a great mix.