Wire Artist of the Month July 2011: Denny Diamond

I have been a designer in all manner of media all of my life and am currently transfixed with wire and metal design. A dental assistant for 38 years, I have had extensive training with small instruments, and it keeps my hands and fingers limber. I still work full time, but I hope making wire jewelry will take me into retiremement. Married for 35 years with twins, I am kept very busy visiting my son's baby and my daughter's bulldog puppy, work, and, oh yes, making jewellery in every spare moment I can.

I need to keep my fingers moving. I must create. Anything. Manipulating wire satisfies that very basic need. It is also a lot cleaner and more portable than the pottery that I also do. I always have a bag of supplies and tools packed and ready to go with me for any time I must wait for someone/something.

Denny gets most of her wire jewelry inspiration from her family's cottage in Wellington, on Lake Ontario. She follows the colors of the water: "I watch the water all day long," she says, "and that's where I get the colors for my crystals. They pretty much match up perfectly." And that's not all that Denny gets from her time on the beach: she also collects beach stones that she incorporates into her wire jewelry.

Denny mixes business and pleasure with her wire jewelry: Denny is currently featured in a gallery, and she has a home studio where she takes custom orders. Most of her work is one-of-a-kind on a custom basis, including orders for bridal jewelry - she just completed a gorgeous tiara! - and bridesmaids jewelry. Denny also makes jewelry as charity donations. While she has an online store for her jewelry, most of Denny's work is sold in-person. Denny told us, "I make what I like, because if I don't sell it, I wear it!"

Denny's necklace and earring set, Wellington Waves

Denny's Wellington Waves necklace and earrings are made from linestone beach stones that she gathered from Wellington, Ontario. Denny didn't alter these stones much before using them: just some thorough cleaning and a drill hole each, and on they went. She matched the colors of Lake Ontario with Swarovski® crystals, and constructed the pieces from sterling silver wire.

One of Denny Diamond's featured pieces, Loveknot, is a pendant woven from
18-gauge half round sterling silver and 16-gauge square copper wire.

I love manipulating the metal in wire jewelry. I like the way I can control the metal - it's a very empowering feeling to make something so solid, move the way you want it to. I have to use my hands! I use any materials I can get my hands on. I love the way gold-filled and sterling silver wire move. I'm currently using Argentium®, I use sterling, I use brass, copper - any gauge, if I can manipulate it, I want to use it. I just like the way wire handles. I draw, I sculpt, I do calligraphy, pottery - anything I can to keep my hands busy.

Denny's Queen of Hearts pendant

My Queen of Hearts piece began with a 55mm x 40mm blue aventurine drilled pendant. I filled the pendant hole with a 6mm ruby corundum set in a sterling snapset, and wrapped the stone in Argentium® wire.

Granite Crystal Bracelet, made with a granite stone from the Wellington Beach,
wrapped with Argentium® Silver wire and accented with Swarovski® beads

Granite Crystal Bracelet: Not a bad version of my Wirework cover bracelet; I like the way Denny tamed up for the stone's irregularity with the crystal beads on top left; cab looks like it was wrapped with soft, well done. Nice bail on the Queen of Hearts. Wellington Waves: Good use of materials within the artists' determination; great control of round wire; repetitive consistency throughout the set.

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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