Hair Jewelry

Sterling Silver Cast Human Hair Bangle

$251.89 from vanderglas on Etsy

I absolutely looove the look and texture of these silver bracelets and earrings cast from braids of real human hair by Polly van der Glas of Vanderglas Jewellery & Objects based in Melbourne, Australia. Inspired by hair, teeth, and fingernails, materials that change meaning once they are divorced from the body, Polly's interest in objects that define beauty and the moment of transformation once they are shed, is something that I too have always been fascinated by. Kindred spirits! 

Sterling Silver Cast Human Hair Hoop Earrings

$342.57 from vanderglas on Etsy

You can see more of her work on her website: www.vanderglas.com.au
And more jewelry in her Etsy shop: www.etsy.com/shop/vanderglas


- Cathleen 

Artist of the Week: Naia del Castillo

Normally I wouldn't be inclined to feature an artist in this weekly forum unless I completely loved their entire body of work. However, I feel compelled to include most of the images from this particular series of photographs titled Trapped created by mixed-media Spanish artist Naia del Castillo in the year 2000 because ever since I stumbled upon them on whatever blog it was months ago, hung in some architect's highly designed and decorated duplex, I haven't been able to shake them from my head. Not that her other work isn't nice. It's fine. But lately I've noticed that I'm inexplicably drawn to images and portraits with faces obscured, and these are some of the best in the bunch. 

- Cathleen 

[All photos from the artist's website: www.naiadelcastillo.com]

Artist of the Week: Natalia Yovane

Export, 2010, xeroxed collage, pencil and ink on paper, 11" x 8.5"

Natalia Yovane is an artist who makes epic, intricately detailed drawings. And full disclosure: she also happens to be my studiomate. But I promise, I didn't decide to like and support her work because we are studiomates; I decided to share a studio with her because I adore her and her work. Most of her art is inspired by nature, but one of her most impressive pieces is a huge floating battlefield of helmets, each unique and individual in their markings and decoration. The headgear identifies every invisible soldier while also providing protection in combat, two qualities they have in common with the other headgear she likes to draw—antlers and hair-dos.

Guerra Civil, 2010, ballpoint pen on paper, 55" x 84"

Guerra Civil Detail

Antler Cluster, 2010, ink on paper, 34" x 54"

Caribou Antler, 2009, ink on paper, 5.5" x 4.5"

Klipspringer Antler, 2009, ink on paper, 5.5" x 4.5"

The Cosby Show, 2009, ballpoint pen on paper, 12" x 9"

You can check out more of Natalia's work on her website nataliayovane.com and you can purchase some of her work in her Etsy shop here.

- Cathleen

[All images courtesy of Natalia Yovane]

You Are Such a Doily

Doily from Vintage Scrap Co. on Etsy

A simple phrase Grace once pegged at me in high school that she thought completely described my essence, but made me feel pigeon-holed and totally misunderstood. Few like being summed up so easily, insisting they are far more complicated and mysterious than anyone can possibly understand! (Foot stomp here.)

In my old age I have transformed from a petulant teenager into a person who doesn’t take herself quite as seriously anymore, and can now appreciate that her best friend of 18 years knows her better than she even knew herself back then.

Resist all I want, I am constantly drawn to these little lacey things.

My mother draped doilies on every chair back and gleaming wooden table she could find in our house growing up. And I just recently discovered an amazing doily stretcher in my grandmother’s basement a lot like this one I found on Etsy.

Years ago, doilies were used to guard furniture from scratches, and shield the expensive upholstery of sofas and settes from the oils used to groom the hair of gentleman callers.

Two years ago, I made a doily out of my own hair during my second semester of grad school. 

Heart-shaped paper doily garlands were strung around the Knights of Columbus where Micky and I got married a few months ago.

And now I’m seeing them everywhere! At the Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn this past June, I met and snagged the heart-shaped metal dog tag calling card of maker Angela Spencer after browsing through her booth. Angela, founder of A.S.I.S, was selling some very rad T-shirts (see below) and stunning earrings.

Angela Spencer can regularly be found shilling her wares at the Brooklyn Flea on weekends (Saturdays in Fort Greene and Sundays in Williamsburg, 10am-5pm, rain or shine). I couldn’t locate the gorgeous lace earrings on her website that she featured at the fair, but you can take my word: they were divine! They looked like small snippets of intricately woven loveliness dipped in gold! Here’s a non-precious metal DIY version from Honestly WTF:

This next incredible piece isn’t exactly a doily per se, but I love the idea of a crocheted cobweb tacked up in the rafters of a dusty, musty attic. It's work from artist Shane Waltener, a beautiful reminder that knitter’s needles and a spider’s nimble arms and legs are not that far removed from one another.

Delicate, complex, and lovely, the doily evokes something pretty and sweet, with one lacey utilitarian toe planted firmly in the past. I suppose it’s not the worst thing to be associated with.

- Cathleen