Product Description

“Very original...Banes draws on her lifelong interest in found objects and ethnic ornaments... [There are] photos of many of her...necklaces, with diagrammed patterns...unique approach to jewelry design.”—Library Journal. “The results are spectacular...the necklaces become true works of art, not just macramé look-alikes.”—Booklist.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #694818 in Books
• Published on: 2000-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 128 pages

From Library Journal
For these very original jewelry designs, Banes draws on her lifelong interest in found objects and ethnic ornaments. Her book has photos of many of her bead and fiber necklaces, with diagrammed patterns for the woven fiber parts. This off-loom needle weaving is worked over pins on a foam board in a technique similar to pillow lacemaking. The result is a woven pendant incorporating beads and having a large ethnic ornament as a focal point. This unique approach to jewelry design belongs in art as well as advanced crafts collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
"The results are spectacular...the necklaces become true works of art, not just macrame look-alikes" - Booklist

About the Author
The author lives in Silver Springs, MD.

Customer Reviews

Jewelry
This large colorful book has illustrations on almost every page - essential for a book designed to teach a skillful art. Helen Banes developed this unusual wearable art by combining beads, pins, buttons, found objects in a woven neck piece. This book elaborates the technique described in her first book. The first half is a rich display of her art in work influenced by a variety of cultures, i.e., African, ancient Egyptian, Indian, pre-Columbian, etc. The second half concentrates on the more practical aspects of the art. Included are step by step instructions, full scale patterns, supplies needed and availability of hard to find items, and in addition an excellent bibliography and index. Perhaps the most important aspect of this book is the stimulation of the imagination and the inspiration to accomplish one's unique creations. Some degree of needle skill and knowledge of tapestry techniques would be very helpful to the person attempting to make a necklace, and certainly having both her books is valuable.

For confident crafters only
Half of this book is taken up with the author talking about how she developed this method of jewellery making. There is only a handful of patterns included, and nearly all of those are incomplete. The patterns look at the centre of the necklace, not always at the sides (the bits that go around your neck, some of which are quite complicated).

There is pretty much no advice on how to use this technique to create your own pieces (other than to suggest changing the colours of the included patterns).

This book is best suited to people who are willing to spend the time learning the techniques and ready for a lot of trial and error in creating unique designs.

There are also no alternative materials suggested, what's on the list is what, apparently, you will use, so you also need to be prepared to experiment if you can't get the right materials, or be confident in your yarn choosing abilities!

In short, this book lacks a lot of potentially useful info that would have fitted nicely in the "let's talk about me" section at the front.

The perfect complement to "Beads and Threads"
Finally, a chance to read the artist's statement! This book takes the creativity of the technique and the philosophy behind developing these necklaces to a more intimate and personal level. Each necklace designed and illustrated by Helen is described in detail regarding the story of the inspiration behind it whether it was a bead, a person, or a textile piece. She shares her love for fiber and beads in order to inspire us to move from the craft to the art form she has created. This is no more, no less a beginners' book than "Beads and Threads", co-authored by Diane Fitzgerald and Helen. The process of making a necklace is exacting but in order to really understand the process you need this book.