Wire Artist of the Month April 2011: Merilou Jenkins

I earned my B.A. and M.A. in Art with a Juris Doctorate thrown in there as well. I was a high school art teacher for years, and have always been involved in the creative process. I am somewhat self-taught with regard to wire wrapping, and I also gained wire wrapping skills from ordering Dale Armstrong's DVDs a few months ago.

As a high school art teacher, I taught all forms of three dimensional art, including hand fabrication as well as casting jewelry. I started fusing glass pendants and became tired of simply gluing on a bail. I wanted to do something a little more attractive. I purchased DVDs by Dale "Cougar" Armstrong and took an advanced bracelet class from her as well and I was on my way!

I recently retired in June of 2010, so now my art is my vocation as well as my avocation. I participate in numerous high end shows as jewelry is now my business.

Merilou's Featured Piece, Blue Obsession

In "Blue Obsession", in essence I wanted to combine three things: create my own dichroic pieces, use traditional wire wrapping and emphasize decorative wire sculpture. The colors in this necklace are absolutely stunning. Dichroic glass is layered, fused, cold worked and fired resulting in stunning color combinations.

A Close-up Shot of Blue Obsession

I fabricate my own dichroic glass pieces and wire wrap natural stones as well. I have a strong committment to craftsmanship and enjoy combining wire wrapping with wire sculpture.

I am passionate about creating my jewelry. Ideas just dance around in my head and I cannot wait to get into my studio to try them out!

Blue Obsession

Blue Obssession is a magnificent necklace made from gold filled wire, dichroic glass beads (also made by the artist), and decorative gold beads.

Editor's Note on Dichroic Glass: Dichroic glass¹ is a unique art form which involves vaporizing ultra-thin layers of different metals, metal oxides, and silicas in a vacuum, which then condense on a glass base. These layers are not necessarily colorful on their own, but rather reflect light, like a prism. The dozens of layers result in a chromatic piece which can appear different vivid colors in different light, just like the colors of oil on pavement or water, or the rainbow effect sometimes seen on soap bubbles. This effect is known as thin-film physics, and was researched extensively by NASA in the 1950s and 1960s to produce technology such as the reflective face shields on astronaut helmets (often appearing gold).

I like the fact that the wire holding each bead into its frame had to be planned and wrapped at the design was created, as well as the fact that the artist used various points on each bead to close each frame. Being able to duplicate so many frames to match while using a freeform wire design on each is a talent in itself and then bringing the entire necklace together by threading wire through all of the beads is perfect!

About wirejewelry's Wire Artist of the Month Program

Each month, we pick a talented wire jewelry artist and their work to highlight. We know we have some incredibly talented customers, and we seek to encourage and highlight those members of our community by highlighting one wire artist every month.

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¹Further Reading:

"Dichroic Glass." Wikipedia
"Dichroic Glass: Definition, History, Properties and Use in Fused Dichroic Jewelry & Art Glass." Trezora Glass
"What is Dichroic Glass?" WiseGeek