Jewelry Extravaganza opens Friday, Feb. 3, at James Ratliff Gallery, located at Hillside Sedona, 671 SR 179, Suites A1 & A2, in Sedona.
There will be an opening artists’ reception Friday, Feb. 3, from 5 to 8 p.m., featuring a Jewelry Extravaganza which presents the latest original hand-made, objets d’art by Arizona jewelry artists Sandra Den Hartog, Sally Peck and Adriana Walker. For options, people can also check out this Jewelry Website.
All three will be present for the Feb. 3 opening and will also be available throughout part of Saturday, Feb. 4. The availability of the artists to visit with gallery guests is a wonderful opportunity to consult informally with the actual concept creators and makers of the jewelry.
With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, Jewelry Extravaganza offers gifts for loved ones or yourself. And the three styles represented differ significantly so they will provide a wide amount of choice as well as beauty and creativity.
Hartog’s creations have their genesis in her childhood fascination with and love of pretty rocks. As a child she always made it a habit to carry a bag or small pail with her as she played and took walks so she would have a way to carry these special rocks home with her. So today’s Sandzibar Jewelry Collection had its impetus way back when as a child Hartog collected rocks. In high school she took classes in geology and gemology, and then marriage and raising children intervened so jewelry-making had to wait its turn.
“It was as a result of traveling that my interest in gems and minerals was once again sparked,” she said. “It is hard to believe how stones/rocks change from country to country. In bringing back Ethiopian crosses from Africa, I made our daughters and granddaughters necklaces with the crosses. I was hooked. First thing you know I was on a mission. I just loved it and everyone else seemed to also. That encouraged me even more.”
Over the years, her jewelry has been juried into various shows where she’s been fortunate enough to win several first, second and third place awards plus an award of merit.
Peck retired to Sedona in 1991 following a 30-year career teaching art in public schools. “I took beading classes to refresh my memory of an art learned as a Campfire Girl,” she said. “I have beaded over 300 pieces of wearable art, not to mention many, many fabulous, fully beaded pieces of jewelry.”
Peck’s designs are her own — no two are alike — and all are hand-worked. Her jewelry designs are made from natural materials including metals, glass, shells, stones, vintage items, and semi-precious gems. Over the last several decades, Peck has won many national, state and local awards for her beading skills.
“Making jewelry is more than a hobby,” she said, “it is an exciting obsession.”
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Walker has used her background in art by designing living spaces as well as designing and creating jewelry. In the past several years, she has combined semi-precious gems, pearls and vintage finds with her own fused glass pieces and often finishes them with silver.
Retro-1950s jewelry recasting suggests more recent styles that also incorporate the past and are reinterpreted through her sense of design. Silver work often completes the pieces to create unique jewelry. Both working with living spaces and creating jewelry require an understanding of color, value, texture and scale in order to make the project at hand successful.
Walker’s work has continued to be displayed in various art venues, and most recently at the Pajaro Arts Council’s Luminescence, Art Glass show in the Bay Area and the Tucson Museum of Art show.
“As I walk into my studio, there are a lot of unfinished pieces. I can never do the same thing twice and I don’t want to. The only thing I don’t do is simple and delicate. Each necklace is unique within itself but each piece is universal,” Walker said.
For further information about Jewelry Extravaganza or the James Ratliff Gallery, call 282-1404; email FineArt@jamesratliffgallery.com; or visit jamesratliffgallery.com.
