Introducing Abstractions!-The Collection

With our earlier art glass pieces, we employed a firing process known as the full fuse.

With the full fuse process, the base glass and the clear top layer of glass sandwich the middle dichroic glass and are fired at such a high temperature (around 1600 degrees) that they all literally become one solid piece. The process results in a smooth-to-the-touch finished pendant.

The process to create our newest series of art glass jewelry pieces stops just short of a full fuse and does not use a top layer of clear glass. The result is a vividly colored, multi-dimensional and highly textured wearable art glass sculpture.

We call this new series Abstractions!

To view more pieces from this collection, please visit our website (http://www.uniquitibles.com/) and view the art glass gallery.

Art For a Worthy Cause, A Very Special Commission, and New Friends!

Our last show was the Bluegrass Pig Day Festival at Jacobson Park in Lexington. Despite the wind almost capsizing our tent several times, it was a wonderful day.

First, we got to help out a great cause--the fesitval was a charity event to raise funds for the Ruby E. Bailey Family Service Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to assisting Lexington's poorest communities by providing educational opportunities, childcare services, mentoring opportunities, and job skills training.

Second of all, the Lexington's Mayor, Jim Newberry, stopped by our booth. Not only did he purchase one of our 'Nova' color pattern bracelets for his wife, but he commissioned us for a matching set of earrings. We also made a pair of our 'Flow Blue' color pattern earrings on sterling silver as our way of saying thanks.

We also met some other great artists as well--Nora Swanson and her husband of 'Song of the Planet' Exquisite Jewelry. They make some absolutely gorgeous patinaed copper and brass jewelry and wall hangings. Visit their web site at http://nswanson-arts.tripod.com/index.html.

All in all, it was a great day.

See more of our handmade glass and art bead jewelry pieces at http://www.uniquitibles.com/ and, for our most recent, up-to-date news, follow us on our Twitter page.

A New Look, A New Event, and A New Color Pattern...

With our name change and our new color scheme, Myra and I thought that our show booth could use a little updating as well. Since we chose our new logo to be black and red, after our most popular color pattern--Inferno--we thought that our booth should promote the same look.

Gone are the gold table cloths. They've been replaced by vibrant red ones. We have new table top signage...even a new banner. Changing our name was a little bit of a hassle. But, now that it's done, we think it may have been a blessing in disguise.

A good artist should try to reinvent themselves every once in awhile. That's just what we've done with our new logo and color scheme. If nothing else, it's certainly noticeable. One of our friends from the Artist's Market noted how professional our booth looked.




We'll be taking a few weeks off from the Artist's Market but will be back there on July 11th. In the meantime, our next booth show will be at the Bluegrass Pig Day Festival on June 20th, 2009 at Lexington's Jacobson Park from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (rain or shine).

We're very proud to participate in this particular show because of its charitable cause. Proceeds from this event will benefit the
Ruby E. Bailey Family Service Center, a non-profit organization offering public services to the needy families of Lexington. The center's mission is to revitalize Lexington's poorest communities through education, mentoring and job skills training. We're very excited to be one of the event's participating artists.

For more information about the organization, please contact Kelly or Neal Harris at 859-258-1270.

Finally, we've developed a new color pattern using Pearl and Burnt Umber colored clays. As it reminded Myra of chocolate, we named it 'Indulgence'. Let us know what you think about it.

Sam Maloof, Woodworker 1916-2009

It is rare in this world that someone can be so dramatically affected by an individual whom they've never had the priviledge to meet. But such was the case with my life and the inspiration that Mr. Sam Maloof, one of America's---one of the world's--greatest woodworkers, brought to it.

I became aware of Mr. Maloof a couple of years ago from watching a documentary on PBS called Craft In America. At the time, we had just started handmaking our own art clay beads and designing our own jewelry. Being able to gain an insight as to how other artists approached their craft was very appealing to me. I was captivated by the three episode series.

The three episodes that composed the series, entitled Memory, Landscape, and Community, spotlighted a number of artists and craftsmen--their works, their crafting process, and their own personal inspirations. Several of the individuals in particular, and most notably Mr. Maloof, had a profound impact on me.

Even though we worked in different mediums, his approach towards his work and the philosophy behind the relationships that he built with his clients resonated deep within my soul. He became an immediate inspiration to me.

After the Craft In America series aired, I set out to discover more about Mr. Maloof. As a result, I came across his foundation--the Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation, several books that had been written about him, and another video called "Maloof", which I immediately purchased.

Because it was entirely about him, this video, moreso than the Craft In America documentary, offered a much deeper insight into Mr. Maloof, his work, and his approach to life.

Inspired by Mr. Maloof, we decided to design two color patterns in recognition of him. We called the first one 'Woodlands'. The second was called 'Walnut House'. It was jointly inspired by the magnificient house/compound that he constructed to publicly display his world-class art collection and the fact that walnut was his favorite wood.

'Woodlands' color pattern bracelet and 'Walnut House' color pattern bracelet.
Both patterns were inspired by Sam Maloof.

I emailed Mr. Maloof earlier this year to let him know what an inspiration he was to me and asked him if he would be kind enough to send me a simple piece of wood scrap from his shop. A few weeks later, much to my surprise, I received a piece autographed by him. I placed it in our studio above my workbench for continued inspiration. It is one of my most treasured possessions along with a poster that he also autographed for me.



Sam Maloof was 93 years old.

The L.A. Times posted a very nice tribute to Mr. Maloof.

New Color Patterns Introduced!

Every once in a while, inspiration strikes and we find ourselves just having to get into the studio to see what a new color pattern will look like. Such was the case with these three.

Fusion, composed of red pearl and blue pearl, just seemed like an appropriate name for this color pattern. It reminds us of heat and cold mixed together and captured in a frenzied, chaotic, yet beautiful moment.

Dusk, as the name implies, was inspired by a beautiful evening sky, in a moment right before the day surrendered its light and the night sky came alive. It is composed of black, pearl blue, and dusty rose.

After what seemed like a long and brutal Winter, we are very ready to welcome the Summer season. When we think of Summer, with its blue skies, bright, burning yellow sun, and various hues of green grass, it conjures up memories of lazy afternoons, swimming, and ice cold lemonade. We tried to capture that feeling in this, our newest seasonal color pattern, Summer Days.

Introducing Fusion, Dusk, and Summer Days, our newest seasonal collection color pattern.

Success at the 'Fest!!!

Up to this point, most of our sales have come through our website or through the shops in Berea and Lexington that sell our pieces. Last year, our only face-to-face, direct-to-the-public sales venue was Downtown Lexington Corporation's Artist's Market. Even though we only set up a few Saturdays (and did fairly well on those Saturdays), we learned quite a bit about presentation and merchandising. It also gave us the opportunity to interact with clients and potential clients, some of which have since become very good friends, and get immediate feedback about our work.

A year has gone by now--we've refined our art bead and jewelry making process and have added several new collections to our work, including art glass.

This year, our first show was the Downtown Lexington Corporation's Mayfest. Based on our experience with last year's Artists' Market, we set some pretty lofty goals for ourselves, based especially on how many attendees we heard that Mayfest drew in the past. One would think that taking place during the same weekend that Mother's Day falls would hurt attendance. But not with Mayfest. The attendance was overwhelming--even recordbreaking. Response to our work was equally overwhelming--so much so that by the event's second day, we started to wonder if we'd made enough pieces. We easily surpassed our own expectations.

It's still difficult to describe the feeling of pride and accomplishment that we get when our handmade art bead and art glass jewelry pieces are complimented on and purchased by the general public. It's humbling when a customer pays their hard-earned money for our jewelry pieces--especially in today's economy.

Not only did we have two great days and meet a wonderful bunch of new friends and clients, but, to make things better, as a result of being there, we were also invited to be in two other upcoming shows--The Pig Day Festival on June 20th at Lexington's Jacobson Park and the Winchester Lions Club's Octoberfest on October 2nd and 3rd.

The very best part though was being able to share the entire experience with Mackenzie and Matthew. They loved the pony rides! Mackenzie was on Beetlejuice and Matthew was on Snowball. A great, great day! Can't wait to come back next year!

By the way, Downtown Lexington's 2009 Artist's Market is coming up and we'll be there.

Location: The Lexington Financial Center (the big blue building!) on Main Street across from Cheapside Park.
Dates and Hours: Every Saturday, June 6 - August 29, 2009, 8am to 2pm. (Exception: There will be no Artists Market on Saturday, July 4)

A Rose By Any Other Name.....

For a couple of different reasons, not the least of them being that we've expanded more into art glass work now, we've decided to change our name to more accurately reflect our work. Introducing...Uniquitibles! Art Jewelry and Designs--Unique and Collectible Handmade Art Bead Jewelry and Art Glass in Brilliant Coloration.

With all of the name changing, we are still proud to have been featured in the June 2009 issue of Polymer Cafe Magazine. Our "Inferno" color pattern jewelry set and our "Vintage Limoges" color pattern jewelry set were both highlighted.

With the name change behind us, we're getting back to business...

Our newest color pattern to be introduced for our "Seasonals" Collection is 'Summer Days'. We love the colors---blue, yellow, and white. Reminds us of a day at a cottage beach house. We'll post a picture of our first item in this color pattern soon.

Lastly, we're also going to be selling our art clay jewelry at Damselfly Studio in Midway, KY and we've been accepted to display our work at Mayfest--our first juried acceptance! We'll be there this coming weekend.

Our First Juried Event!

We are very proud to have been selected as a Juried Artist Vendor by the Downtown Lexington Corporation's Selection Committee for the upcoming 2009 Mayfest Arts Fair.

2009 Marks the 15th Anniversary of the Mayfest Arts Fair, which is held annually during Mother's Day weekend (the 2nd weekend in May). The 2009 event will be held Saturday, May 9, 10am - 6pm and Sunday May 10, 11am - 5pm.

The festival is held in historic Gratz Park, located in Downtown Lexington, Kentucky. The park sits between The Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning (formerly the old Lexington Public Library building) on 2nd Street, and Transylvania University on 3rd Street.

Our booth number will be #67.

For more information about Mayfest, please click here.

Proud Moments....

This has been a great month for us.....

Last weekend, the two jewelry sets that we donated to the Berea Arts Council for their annual charity fundraiser, Chili Night Out, were auctioned off. Both sets together brought in more than $100. We also came home with some great art work that we purchased: a handblown glass bowl with red trim by master glassblower Michelle Weston and a watercolor, titled "124 Railroad Street" by Robert Berger. The picture depicts a historic building in Midway, Kentucky--one of our favorite towns.

We very very proud to have our artwork displayed alongside these and other great artists and to be a part of this wonderful event. There is a great sense of validation knowing that our work was able to bring in money for such a worthy casue.

This month was also special for us because our Inferno color pattern necklace was published in Step By Steps Beads Magazine.

Additionally, as we continue to develop our glass work, we were accepted to display some of our dichroic glass pieces in Street Scene in Lexington. It's next to Coffee Times near the corner of Regency Rd. and Moore Dr.



With all of these great moments however, our proudest moment came from our oldest son, Mackenzie (6years old) and his attempt to be like Mommie and Daddy.

Fascination with Glass

We've been working with polymer art clay for some time now. It never ceases to amaze us with its versatility and with the beautiful endless color patterns that we are able to create with it. It's difficult to imagine us not working in clay now that we've discovered it. The limits with this medium are truly bounded only by own imaginations.

That being said, we have always admired art glass. Ever since we started our antiques business, companies like Fenton Art Glass, Indiana Art Glass, and Imperial Glass have captured our hearts and our souls. In fact, our love of art glass may have been the primary reason that we started our antiques business. We especially have a deep fondness for carnival glass--absolutely beautiful!

With that in mind, maybe it was just a matter of time before we were able to expand our creativity to include glass production--a medium which we at first thought would be out of our reach for a number of reasons. But thanks to some studio-friendly equipment, a lot of determination, some great friends and mentors, a lot of trail and error, and our appreciation for it, we have finally started to see some progress in our glass work.

With clay, you have a pretty good idea of what you're going to end up with once you drop it in the kiln. But with glass, at least for us right now, its difficult to know what the end result will be.--even if it will be. We've had some really nice pieces shatter in the last few moments before coming out of the kiln. Opening the kiln door is like Christmas--a mixed jumble of anxious nerves and exhilarating thoughts all crashing together in the same moment.

Sometimes though, you get it right. And when that happens--it's pretty wonderful.

We'll continue to work in art clay but glass offers us another new and creative outlet. We're obsessed now.

Here are a few of our newest pieces-a far cry from our earlier attempts.































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And now for something completely different....

Along with our love for antique and vintage jewelry, we also have a fondness--OK, maybe it's more like an all out love for art glass. We've collected and sold pieces from some of America's leading glass companies--Fenton Art Glass, Imperial Art Glass, and Indiana Glass--all of them historic in their own way. We particularly love to collect carnival glass.

Now that we've started our own jewelry line, we have extended our passion for art glass to Murano Glass and dichroic glass. Truly, all of these these have had a major influence in our art clay work.

However, even with that love, getting into glass making always seemed just a bit out of reach for us--the equipment, the glass supplies and inventory needs, the torch. It all seemed a bit---intimidating. Until now that is.

On a visit to a local craft store, we were introduced to a small studio sized version of a glass fusing kit. It came with everything that we needed-- a little glass to get us going, a microwave kiln, kiln papers, and most importantly, instructions. We already have another main piece of equipment--a kiln (although the kit that we purchased was meant to be used with a microwave).

The studio kit has made it a little easier for us to try our hand with glass fusing and to explore a love of ours that we didn't think would be possible.

There is going to be a huge learning curve--we've already blown up several pieces. But, who knows? Maybe this is the start of a new medium for us...Definitely, more to come!

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Giving Back In Support of the Arts!

This week, we were very proud to have our two jewelry sets (pictured above), Inferno Jewelry Set #474I and Vintage Limoges Jewelry Set #475VL, accepted by the Berea Arts Council for their annual "Chili Night Out" Art Auction.

The auction is the Council's major fund-raising effort and proceeds go to support the organization and its many wonderful community programs.

Dontated art pieces will be available for preview in a public exhibit between January 16 and March 5, 2009 at the Berea Arts Council Gallery located at 116 N. Main Street, Berea, KY.

A preview reception will be held on Feb 13th while the auction itself will take place on March 7, 2009 at 5:30 at the Acton Folk Center.

Hopefully, this will be the first of many "Chili Night Out" campaigns that we will be a part of.

More information can be found at the Berea Art Council's website.

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Happy New Year and Welcome to Studio U!

Happy New Year and welcome to Studio U!, the blog for Uniquities! Jewelry and Accessories.

Uniquities! Jewelry and Accessories is the artistic collaboration of Mark and Myra Johnson and features our own handmade art beads and finished jewelry creations.

Our love of collecting vintage jewelry such as Coro, Weiss, Trifari, and Sarah Coventry, inspired us to create our own artisan-crafted jewelry line and while we are wholly self-taught, which allows us to infuse a completely intimate and personal quality into our designs, we constantly seek to improve and refine our techniques.

Since each of our handmade beads is unique and represented by a distinctive color pattern, every jewelry design using our handmade beads is unique as well. All of our items are handcrafted with great pride in our Kentucky-based home studio.

Studio U! will be our way of continually letting our many clients, supporters, and friends know about what's going on with Uniquities! Jewelry and Accessories. We'll be placing pictures of new collections and commissioned and finished work here, as well as communicating our upcoming shows and other important events.

2008 was a banner year for us. Not only were we recognized in Polymer Clay Magazine and in multiple editions of Bead Style Magazine's newsletter, but, just as importantly, we met a number of wonderful people and clients who commissioned and purchased our jewelry to adorn themselves and their loved ones and provided us with very humbling comments. To all of you, Myra and I say "Thank-You".

In 2008, we also launched the Grand U! Collection, our highest quality showpieces featuring our handmade beads, more highly finished to a glass-like appearance, embellished with exceptional quality sterling silver, Czech Glass, and Swarovski Crystal components, along with 14K, 18K, and 24K gold-filled/plated finish enhancements.

We increased our gallery of distinctive color patterns, each inspired by some aspect of our life--a favorite type of music or antique, a favorite artist or craftsman, or an aspect of nature--to over 50.

We also launched our Seasonals Collection line, featuring limited production color patterns inspired directly from nature's changing seasons.

We also started selling our art beads at Fish Wisdom Beads in Berea--Kentucky's folk arts and crafts capital.

2009 holds the promise of being even better than 2008 and we'll be updating Studio U!--The Blog at least monthly. Please leave a comment or two and let us know what you think.

Here's to 2009!

Blessings to you and yours!