Jewelry
Blue Ridge, GA
Jewelry
Blue Ridge, GA
elainerader.com
Artist Statement
I design and create one-of-a-kind art jewelry and I personally perform all the creative aspects involved in my work. Living in the North Georgia Mountains is a constant inspiration to me. Being surrounded by nature enables me to dig deep into my primitive self, letting my work become a celebration of balance and form through the gifts given to us in nature. I find beauty in the shapes of bones and of trees in winter, or the way a rock perches in the river. I find balance in contrasts of color, texture and shape. I fabricate each piece from sterling silver and use 22 karat gold to accent the piece. I use techniques such as forging, raising and various surface embellishments to give the metal depth and texture. The finish is obtained by oxidizing the piece on sulfur and buffing it with steel wool. The stones in my work range from a variety of fossil materials to boulder opals, precious and semi precious stones.
I design my pieces by working in series. I allow shapes to evolve which add to, and guide the design rather than forcing the silver into a preconceived shape. Designing the piece is the most exciting aspect of what I do. Many times the piece changes form, as I re-arrange my thoughts or discover new elements to incorporate into the design.
