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Beata Dziegielewski
Beata Dziegielewski offers selections from favored Polish artists
in her own showroom at the San Francisco Gift Center, Amber #1.
An artist herself, Beata was born in Poland, and began making jewelry as a student. In art school, her friends were other budding silversmiths starting their own careers, and together, they participated in festivals and street fairs around the country.
After living in Rome, and later moving to San Francisco, Beata was finally able to visit her home in Poland again where she discovered many of her art school friends were making names for themselves. Transitioning into a wholesale representative to introduce their artistry to American jewelry sellers was a natural step in this designer's professional career. Amber #1 now brings the best of Polish artistry and Baltic Sea Amber to the U.S., much of it influenced by Beata's experience in design and sales.
Northcoast Greyhounds is privileged to add Amber #1 to our list of collections,
and to present to you Ms. Dziegielewski's selections from
some of the finest jewelers and designers of Poland, Russia, Lithuania and Latvia -
all newly adorned with greyhounds, of course!
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David R. Freeland, Jr.
A self-taught designer and a Metis (French-Canadian) Indian, David Freeland draws inspiration from the rich cultural heritage of the Southwest American Indians and his forefathers. Now that we've discovered his website, you can see for yourself the tiny Kachina Dolls with removable turquoise costumes about which I gushed- I didn't even realize that "pieces of each can be worn as jewelry!" The intricacy and originality of David's work is nothing less than breathtaking.
Alas, the most beautiful of Mr Freeland's pieces are beyond our means- but it doesn't mean we can't all drool over his artistry on his own website, and take pride in wearing one of the more affordable pieces we gleaned from his display - helping greyhounds find homes with its purchase, of course.
See our current DF pieces here.
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Hadas Shaham
Drawing inspiration from urban geometric shapes and bold substances Hadas Shaham designs pieces of contemporary jewelry formed by simple geometric and cubic shapes. The 2008 collection is reflective of Hadas' personal style and environmental space combining elements from new and old worlds.
All of the pieces in the collection are carefully handcrafted by the artist combining silver, gold, cement and leather. The artistic process applied varies from specialized hand crafting techniques to advanced silversmithing.
Hadas is a graduate of the department of Gold and Silversmithing at the prestigious Shenkar Academy of Art and Design, Tel Aviv where she specialized in jewelry, Fashion Accessories and Industrial Design.
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Rick Cooper
 Sometimes, with Rick Cooper, its either feast or famine. He has a real job too (can you imagine????) but we're greytful for whatever we can get when we can get it!
You'll want to keep an eye on Rick's page to see what's available at present so you can stock up for Christmas and other events requiring a gift. Rick's hand-cut pieces will astound your friends!
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Johnson Hui
How does one go about transforming himself from laser engineer to jewelry artist? We don't know how it happened but we're happy it did for Johnson Hui, because we're greyt admirers of his jewelry.
Johnson created The Special Concept in 1997, with his own artistic form in quality, handmade pieces from natural stones, specializing in opal.
In our September visit to his showroom, we purchased a as many of his elegantly tailored opal pieces as we could afford and will be adding them to his page as fast as we can decorate and photograph them! See more of Johnson's designs HERE.
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Marta Howell
Marta Howell's story testifies to a free spirit of adventure and entrepreneurism. At University Jagielonski in Krakow, she earned a masters degree in philosophy and taught languages there before managing a salon/spa business in Poland and a fashion company in Thailand.
It was in Thailand that Marta met her husband and while David managed his diving company, they lived in the tiny seaside village of Kohtao (population 900 ) without a car or even electricity. Marta spent her time collecting shells along Thailand's beaches and, in polishing them, discovered the treasures beneath each surface. Learning silversmithing from David gave form and direction to yet another career.
When the couple decided to move back to David's native Hawaii, the shells came along- all 200 pounds of them. Thus Marta Howell Studio opened in Kailua- and has since expanded to receive shell shipments from Britain, Indonesia, Norway, Denmark, Australia and the South Seas.
"The temperature of the ocean, age of the mollusk, the algae and seaweed they eat, all help determine the colors the shells take on. Those from Sumatra have a golden hue; from Norway, blue-pink; and New Zealand's are green-blue. One of the properties I like best about working with mother-of-pearl is that there is a shade that works with every skin color. I see art in every piece of shell. It's a never-ending adventure.," said Ms. Howell.
As is her life, it seems!
See the Marta Howell Collection
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Michele Foster
The jewelry of Libertad is the work of Tuscon, AZ based designer Michele Foster.
Growing up in Ohio, Michele dreamed of designing costumes for the opera or theatre. Her current work is rooted in the color and form lessons of a young life spent researching and drawing elaborate historical, often fantastical costumes and jewelry designs. These lessons found their adult counterpoints in experiences of the cool tones of Californian and Hawaiian ocean hues, brilliant southwestern color traditions and the dramatic natural visual forms of the Sonoran desert landscape. The cool, soothing blues of the ocean and the dramatic energizing colors of the desert combine themselves in her work.
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