The Basics of Collecting Art: Wearable Art
Second in a series to assist those who love art & fine craft to make a purchase or add to a beginning collection.
Strolling through the streets of an art fair one expects to find artists touting fine sculptures and paintings. But you find yourself at the booth of a fabric artist and, albeit beautiful work, is it art? Likewise, you may have visited an online art gallery only to find yourself looking at jewelry. Fabric art and hand-made jewelry are actually a few examples of what is known as wearable art, and makes for a great purchase if you are just beginning a collection. Here are some basics to understanding wearable art.
What is wearable art?
Wearable Art is an individually designed artistic expression composed of hand-made and/or fine, high-quality materials. The art may be in the form of jewelry, clothing or accessories including hats and scarves. It is sometimes also referred to as fabric art or jewelry design. The piece may or may not be one-of-a-kind though always an original design of the artist.
The artist may assemble pre-made materials such as fabric, yarn, beading, precious metals, etc., or the artist may create a piece entirely from scratch. For instance, they may make their own paint by grinding pigment and mixing it with a liquid, usually oil or water. Fabric artists may also choose to take part in the creation of their materials, such as Kindred Gifts. Kindred Gifts (found at http://www.kindredgifts.com) raises an Icelandic sheep herd to provide wool for yarn that they then spin and weave into one-of-a-kind scarves and hats.
How to choose wearable art.
You will most likely choose your wearable art based on your own personal style. But rather than looking for a single piece, find an artist whose overall style matches yours so you can collect different pieces over time. Artists love to create relationships with their clients and are eager to keep in touch about new work and collections through direct mail catalogs and/or email newsletters.
Budget will also play a factor in your choice. Original jewelry need not be very expensive to be enjoyable. Cat Massof of Kitty Deluxe, a St. Clair Shores, MI boutique says, "My hand-crafted jewelry is special to [clients] because it is usually one-of-a-kind or a very limited piece." Kitty Deluxe jewelry is beautiful, unique and affordable.
Pick up a copy of AmericanStyle (http://www.americanstyle.com/), a magazine of fine crafts, which regularly features wearable art, to find out more about those works that you are interested in.
How to care for your purchase.
Wearable art, whether fabric, jewelry or accessories are special pieces and need attentive care to ensure longevity and a high-quality appearance. Extra care is especially important because this piece of art will be worn, as opposed to a display piece that can carefully be secured to a wall or set on a shelf. Make sure to ask the artist to provide care instructions for the piece based on the material and the composure. For example, you might expect a silk or embroidered piece to require professional laundering. Also, ask the artist if they offer any cleaning or repair services as part of their customer satisfaction policy.
For a piece that requires less maintenance Sigi Eurich, of Sigi Jewelry Design in San Francisco, recommends fine silver as it requires minimal cleaning. She offers lifetime resizing of her "mini-sculptures", as they have come to be known, further assuring long-lasting quality.
Now enjoy.
The wonderful thing about wearable art is that you have so much opportunity to show it off. Unlike artwork that is incorporated into your living quarters, your wearable art goes wherever you go. The compliments you receive and the satisfaction gotten from supporting the artist community will have you eager to make your next fine art purchase. Wearable art is a great gift idea too, so this Christmas season, stroll through an indoor art show or browse through an online art gallery for inspiration.
If you are interested in seeing the work of Sigi Jewelry Design or Kitty Deluxe by Cat Massof visit Artists' Heaven at http://www.artistsheaven.com.
Second in a series to assist those who love art & fine craft to make a purchase or add to a beginning collection.
Strolling through the streets of an art fair one expects to find artists touting fine sculptures and paintings. But you find yourself at the booth of a fabric artist and, albeit beautiful work, is it art? Likewise, you may have visited an online art gallery only to find yourself looking at jewelry. Fabric art and hand-made jewelry are actually a few examples of what is known as wearable art, and makes for a great purchase if you are just beginning a collection. Here are some basics to understanding wearable art.
What is wearable art?
Wearable Art is an individually designed artistic expression composed of hand-made and/or fine, high-quality materials. The art may be in the form of jewelry, clothing or accessories including hats and scarves. It is sometimes also referred to as fabric art or jewelry design. The piece may or may not be one-of-a-kind though always an original design of the artist.
The artist may assemble pre-made materials such as fabric, yarn, beading, precious metals, etc., or the artist may create a piece entirely from scratch. For instance, they may make their own paint by grinding pigment and mixing it with a liquid, usually oil or water. Fabric artists may also choose to take part in the creation of their materials, such as Kindred Gifts. Kindred Gifts (found at http://www.kindredgifts.com) raises an Icelandic sheep herd to provide wool for yarn that they then spin and weave into one-of-a-kind scarves and hats.
How to choose wearable art.
You will most likely choose your wearable art based on your own personal style. But rather than looking for a single piece, find an artist whose overall style matches yours so you can collect different pieces over time. Artists love to create relationships with their clients and are eager to keep in touch about new work and collections through direct mail catalogs and/or email newsletters.
Budget will also play a factor in your choice. Original jewelry need not be very expensive to be enjoyable. Cat Massof of Kitty Deluxe, a St. Clair Shores, MI boutique says, "My hand-crafted jewelry is special to [clients] because it is usually one-of-a-kind or a very limited piece." Kitty Deluxe jewelry is beautiful, unique and affordable.
Pick up a copy of AmericanStyle (http://www.americanstyle.com/), a magazine of fine crafts, which regularly features wearable art, to find out more about those works that you are interested in.
How to care for your purchase.
Wearable art, whether fabric, jewelry or accessories are special pieces and need attentive care to ensure longevity and a high-quality appearance. Extra care is especially important because this piece of art will be worn, as opposed to a display piece that can carefully be secured to a wall or set on a shelf. Make sure to ask the artist to provide care instructions for the piece based on the material and the composure. For example, you might expect a silk or embroidered piece to require professional laundering. Also, ask the artist if they offer any cleaning or repair services as part of their customer satisfaction policy.
For a piece that requires less maintenance Sigi Eurich, of Sigi Jewelry Design in San Francisco, recommends fine silver as it requires minimal cleaning. She offers lifetime resizing of her "mini-sculptures", as they have come to be known, further assuring long-lasting quality.
Now enjoy.
The wonderful thing about wearable art is that you have so much opportunity to show it off. Unlike artwork that is incorporated into your living quarters, your wearable art goes wherever you go. The compliments you receive and the satisfaction gotten from supporting the artist community will have you eager to make your next fine art purchase. Wearable art is a great gift idea too, so this Christmas season, stroll through an indoor art show or browse through an online art gallery for inspiration.
If you are interested in seeing the work of Sigi Jewelry Design or Kitty Deluxe by Cat Massof visit Artists' Heaven at http://www.artistsheaven.com.
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