meredith cutler :: arts marketing :: artist

I’m already uncharacteristically pumped for this year’s holiday season, which is completely at odds with what the doomsaying news outlets are prosthelytizing. One of the reasons for my early and enthusiastic push is that I will be creating most of our holiday gifts with my own two paws (with the balance representing items and works by artists & indie designers whose work I truly admire). If you are on my list, don’t you already feel special?

It’s no secret that I’m a huge proponent of Buy Handmade (or, make it yourself), which is where the following UK-based artist fits in. I fell in love with tinctory’s unique textile jewelry on Etsy last winter, and gifted her beautiful autumn leaf necklace to a very picky Italian lady who loved it!

2008 has seen an increased creative intensity in tinctory’s jewelry line, with the addition of smocked silk necklaces, like the example pictured below. I don’t normally feature jewelry on Studio Debris, but this work is unique to my interests in that it incorporates hand-dyed or recycled textiles, with intensive pleating and stitching handwork. Using painstaking shibori and smocking techniques, Eva has invented some amazing sculptural forms that stand as works of art on their own.

In addition to the joy of receiving a truly unique piece of jewelry all the way from Birmingham, Eva from tinctory packages each piece in an elegant, handmade gift box. Mine arrived from the U.K. in no time. If you are interested in shibori or the other techniques used in tinctory jewelry, check out Eva’s flickr site for some interesting photos of works in progress.