Lark Books has published a series of jewelry books showing 500 juried pieces of jewelry in the same jewelry type. At this time they have books covering necklaces, bracelets and rings. I purchased the book at my local Barnes and Noble. At the end of this article I will provide a link to it’s listing at Amazon
The selection process for entry into these types of books is really very interesting. Ads are usually placed In craft magazines with a 'call for entry'. If you are a member of any professional trade organization such as the American Craft Council or SNAG you will usually also receive mailings or emails advising of the opportunity.
Specifications will be given for the manner of jewelry construction, allowable materials and whatever other criteria is relevant to the juried event. There will also be detailed instructions as to the media of presentation to the judges (slides, jpegs - whatever), required artist insurance, entry fees and entry deadline.
If your visual images make the first cut you will be asked to send the jewelry to the sponsors. Then, if all goes well with the jury, your jewelry will be selected for inclusion in the contest with eventual publication in a book.
What’s in it for the jewelry artist? Well, the benefits are usually three-fold. Normally, like any art contest, there will be a cash prizes. Secondly, regardless of whether or not you receive a cash prize you will have a very credible item to list on your artist curriculum vitae. Finally, the exposure provided to the artist is quite simply enormous.
The acknowledgement In the back of this book states that about 1500 artists, presenting over 5000 necklaces, entered this juried contest – not too bad odds – roughly 1/3 of the artists made the cut.
My next article will provide a review of the book and give information as to the way it is organized.
Link to Amazon for 500 Necklaces.
Maire Loughran - Maire Loughran was born and raised in Rhode Island, the costume jewelry capital of the world. She learned the art of jewelry making at the ...
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