New Dimensions in Bead and Wire Jewelry

New Dimensions in Bead and Wire Jewelry
Gifted by North Light Books
www.northlightshop.com
Reviewed by Jaclyn Holtzman

Margot Potter wants you as the canvas for her anything-but-conventional jewelry designs. In New Dimensions in Bead and Wire Jewelry, Potter treats her wire and beads as materials for her works of art, and she vows to share her love of the unexplored. Get lost in the wrapping, twisting, and coiling of wire as you make your way to dimensional mastery. Among the 30 show-stopping designs, you will not find one that is average or standard. Potter is all about pushing the envelope one wire sculpture at a time.

This lovely guide never leaves you in the dust as it holds your hand from the beginning lessons to the master creations of beauty. Step by step you will advance from novice to expert, masking the challenge with brilliant exercises of jewelry shaping. You are patiently guided through the basics of beading and bending, and you only must move on when you are ready.

One of my favorite features of this book is the section with variations provided alongside most projects. They give you another opportunity to practice a given skill or suggest a slight deviation from the featured design that might better suit your taste. Additionally, the passion which is vivid in each of Potter's passages is inspiring and motivational encouraging you to flip the pages and put your hands to work.

Wow crowds with the different forms wire takes as you contrast the coily, feminine, floral Magnoliophyta earrings with the harsher, edgy, spit-fire wire chain of the Arachne necklace. Although each design incorporates the same two materials, wire and beads, every piece is unique and drastically different. There are sculptures begging to sit on the wrist of a high-power business woman, delicate arrangements calling out for a trendy yet conservative mom, and stylish, boisterous works of art waiting for the chic college student to rock it on campus.

Explore the multiple dimensions of bead and wire jewelry as Margot Potter thinks outside of the box to lead you on the path less trodden. A couple of hours with this handbook full of intrigue and innovation, and you'll be hooked on wire.