PETER SKUBIC

At nearly 500 years old, Austria's Porcia Castle is one of the country's most important historical structures with its blend of Italian and baroque architectural styles. Austria is also the home of featured jewelry designer Peter Skubic.

I will admit that upon viewing Skubic's angular, and boxy stainless steel jewelry pieces they seemed indiscriminate from each other.

The abstract structures resemble partially folded pieces of mirror-like metal accented with randomly placed, protruding metal wires and occasional splashes of color. However, careful thought goes into these seemingly arbitrary forms.

"The process always starts with drawings but after I finish the piece it becomes a continuum," he says. "My mirror pieces have a form but you cannot see the form. I think about the dimensions of my pieces, the positions of the angles, and cutting the stainless steel plates.

Depending on the time of day, these pieces reflect the light and the piece becomes one hundred different pieces. Sometimes you see colors behind the shiny stainless steel plates or just the shiny plate. The effect is you think you see glass, not a mirror."

A goldsmith for more than 30 years, Skubic's design approach, and choice of materials also reflect a pointed intent to challenge ideas of quality in jewelry, and perceptions of jewelry as art.

"I want to find a personal sign of quality in jewelry, not only brilliance and commercial aspects. For example, I like to use color in my pieces, but without the use of big gemstones," he explains.

"I put color on the back of the shiny plates and, of course, the stainless steel plates are not diamonds but for me the plates are more attractive than diamonds.

To me jewelry can be art, but it is always a question of quality, and quality to me is not something definable, it is something you feel."
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Photo 1 (top right): Stainless Steel Mirror Brooch
Photo 2 (bottom left): Stainless Steel Ring with Blue Acrylic

MEIRI ISHIDA JEWELRY & OBJECT

Built in the early 18th century, the Rikugien Gardens in Tokyo, Japan is a beautiful area with lush, green hills, a pond, and a weeping cherry tree. The garden's structure is patterned after Japanese waka poems, which are characterized by five lines. Japan is also the hometown of featured jewelry designer, Meiri Ishida.

Ishida's creations are essentially tactile textiles. Try saying that three times in rapid succession. That is quite a tongue twister. One look at Ishida's objects and jewelry made with multi-colored felt, gold and silver had the same effect. I was at a loss for words.

I like it when a designer goes with an unconventional design approach, setting himself/herself apart, establishing their individuality, and expanding their creativity.

A graduate of Tokyo's Tama Art University (T.M.U.), Ishida specialized in glass art, but her love of various textures and aesthetics led to lots of experimentation. Four years after graduating from T.M.U., Ishida attended the Alchimia School of Contemporary Jewelry in Florence, Italy, under the tutelage of Giampaolo Babetto, and Barbara Seidenath

Ishida's designs are full of color and whimsy. The multi-colored, horizontal pattern of the felt material she uses brings to mind winter attire: warm cozy mittens, sweaters, socks, and a skullcap.

Her jewelry is structured like standard necklaces or bracelets. "When the form, color, and tactile feeling are mixed with someone's personality, my jewelry is complete, and creates a new poetry," she says.

However, the objects she creates are altogether different. It is an unusual aesthetic and I enjoy her creative expression. Some objects appear to be silhouettes of rabbits, and the head and shoulders of people, while others are non-descript.

The silhouette cutouts are layered creating a three-dimensional aspect, and as you look closer, you can see that there is perhaps a centimeter's difference in size. This allows you to see levels of colors.

"Color, humor, mixture, and continuation, my work consists of these elements. Color especially is the transcendent sensation."

Some objects resemble a toddler's play toy; another resembles a floral arrangement, while yet another looks like a small bowl of salad.

Over the last seven years, Ishida's work has been featured in exhibitions around the world including the Florida Craftsmen Gallery in the United States, the Contemporary Art Center in the Netherlands, and the Galleria Marcolongo in Italy.
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Photo 1 (top right): Unnamed Felt Object (resembles salad)
Photo 2 (bottom left): Unnamed Felt and Gold Necklace