Helena Fox Fine Art Gallery – November 2020
Helena Fox Fine Art – Charleston, SC
Helena Fox Fine Art, who represents my handcrafted silver designs and regularly carries a curated selection of my silver hollowware, flatware, home objects, and jewelry in their stunning downtown Charleston art gallery, is hosting a special Open House event featuring my artwork Friday, November 13 and Saturday, November 14 from 12-4pm. During that time the gallery will be open to the public and there is the option for a private viewing. Please contact the gallery to set up individual appointments.
You can read the full press release about the event on my website Press page.
I will exhibit a wider variety of my silver objects, original jewelry designs, and Christmas ornaments than what the gallery usually shows during this unique event. I hope to see you there!
Helena Fox Fine Art
106A Church Street
Charleston, SC 29401
843-723-0073
New Christmas Ornaments for Holiday 2020
New Silver Christmas Ornaments for Holiday 2020
Kaminer Haislip has two new silver Christmas ornament designs for Holiday 2020! Continuing her design style of the silver silhouette, Hurricane 2020 and Holidays on Ice have been added to her stable of Christmas ornament offerings. Each ornament is hand pierced from sheet silver and the shape refined by filing and sanding. The slightly domed form gives it dimension and its smooth, shiny surface is perfect for personalizing with hand engraving.
2020 has been such a crazy year filled with so many unexpected events that Kaminer decided to make a special Christmas ornament to commemorate it. Hurricane 2020 will only be available for 2020, because we all want to see this year go! This silver Christmas ornament was inspired by the iconic New Orleans “Hurricane” drink and will bring a cheery, festive spirit to your Christmas tree. By the end of 2020 we all will need a stiff drink!
Silver Christmas ornaments make a wonderful, heirloom gift that will be cherished for years to come. Many lovely memories are made around the holidays and giving a lasting silver gift is a great way to commemorate past years of happy, family gatherings. Holidays on Ice cheers to fun celebrations with family and friends.
Both Hurricane 2020 and Holidays on Ice can be personalized with hand engraving, as can most of Kaminer’s silver Christmas ornaments. Shop the entire array of festive ornaments in this website store Christmas Ornaments category.
Custom Christmas Ornaments
Jack & Ginger Etched Silver Christmas Ornament
Custom Christmas Ornaments
Custom Christmas ornaments are a wonderful heirloom gift that will be cherished and enjoyed for many holidays to come. Not only is a sterling silver Christmas ornament a lasting, quality present, but it is an extremely memorable one. These beauties sparkle and shine with merriment on the Christmas tree and embody the holiday spirit.
The process of etching a textured design into sterling silver has been an integral aspect of my artwork over the years and one fun application of the technique has been for custom Christmas ornament designs. I get so many inquiries about the process and options, so I decided to highlight a couple of past designs and describe the handcrafted technique.
Hand painting and drawing the design onto the silver
First, I hand draw the design in my sketchbook and use it for reference to draw onto the silver shape, which I hand cut from sheet silver. The next step is to paint a black tar like substance called resist over the areas I want to remain smooth. The resist protects the silver surface from the acid etching chemical. The resist can be messy, so I refine the details and lines with a steel pencil as shown in the image above. Once the design is completed, it is submerged in the acid, which eats into the silver surface and creates texture in the exposed silver areas.
Jack & Ginger Etched Silver Christmas Ornament
After the silver is polished to a high shine, the textured design and lines contrast beautifully with the smooth surface. The amount of detail and refinement that can be achieved with the process is quite significant!
Old Exchange Building Etched Silver Christmas Ornament
I have been commissioned to create a wide variety of etched Christmas ornaments and the possibilities are endless for design options. Some past projects include buildings, houses, a lighthouse, and even a private plane! Shown above is the historic Old Exchange Building in downtown Charleston, which was very detailed with the number of straight lines and architectural embellishments. To view more of my original Christmas ornament designs, view the Christmas Ornaments page in my website Portfolio Archive.
I welcome you to get in touch with your own idea for a custom Christmas ornament! I so enjoy those projects and it is always exciting to see what new, creative concept someone will bring to me. Custom commission information can be found on my website Commission Work page and details on how to commission your own design is posted on the Commission Policy page.
The Jack & Ginger ornament I created last year for a very special person inspired my 2020 Christmas ornaments…..coming soon!!
Silver Wedding Gift Ideas
Silver Wedding Gift Ideas
Despite so many weddings being postponed or held in a much smaller gathering than originally planned due to coronavirus, giving a gift to the happy couple is still a must to show your support and celebrate their marriage! Silver is a classic heirloom wedding gift and my functional silver objects are extremely popular to commemorate the joyous occasion. My designs are inspired by traditional silver forms, but are interpreted in my original, contemporary style. A unique, handcrafted silver gift will be cherished for generations to come and is such a memorable, lasting gift to receive.
My website Shop has a wide variety of options available and many can be personalized with hand engraving for a special finishing touch. Detailed below are some of the most favored of my classic silver wedding gifts.
by Kaminer Haislip
Coronavirus is keeping more people at home these days, so stock the newlywed’s bar with fun silver accessories they will use while enjoying evenings at home together or for stylish entertaining (while being conscientious of social distancing of course!). Silver bar spoons, personalized decanter tags with their favorite libations engraved on the front, tumblers and cups, wine goblets, and wine coasters are all useful and beautiful gifts.
The silver tumbler pictured above and the silver wine goblets and wine coasters below all can be hand engraved with the couple’s initials and wedding date for a personal touch.
by Kaminer Haislip
Let’s not forget the very important hors d’oeuvres for snacking during cocktail hour! Silver appetizer accessories shine and make serving the tasty bites even more enjoyable.
by Kaminer Haislip
The silver and glass cheese tray shown above is the same silver and glass cake tray pictured at the top of this post. My Ziggurat Tray creates a stunning tablescape and is very versatile for many uses, including serving hors d’oeuvres, cheese, anti-pasta, cakes and desserts, or for a table centerpiece displaying fruit or flowers.
This silver spreader is multi-functional for serving a wide variety of soft cheeses, spreads, and condiments.
The silver cheese knife, spreader, condiment spoon, and appetizer fork were all forged and have a hammered handle. Due to the hammering process, they are very sturdy and functional. Plus they bring contemporary refinement to the setting.
A popular wedding gift is my Nest Bowl, comprised of hammered and woven sterling silver wire. The nest acts as a metaphor for building a new life and home together. Nest Bowl comes in three sizes, 4″, 6″, and 8″ in diameter, but can also be created in custom sizes. It functions beautifully for serving bread or crackers or on a vanity or dresser for holding items.
For serving up the main course, my silver salad servers and serving spoon make excellent silver wedding gifts that will be used frequently and not just on holidays. My husband and I use our silver serving spoons regularly and get a lot of enjoyment out of them!
A pair of silver napkin rings with the couple’s initials hand engraved on them is a lovely gift that can be built upon over the years. Starting them on any collection creates a gift you as well as others can give to help them complete the set.
Silver bowls, dishes, and boxes are also thoughtful silver wedding gifts, not only for their useful function on a coffee table, dresser, or vanity, but also for their beauty and enhancement of a new abode. Most of my silver bowls, dishes, and boxes come in a variety of sizes and too can be completed as a set in the future.
There are many more gorgeous heirloom silver wedding gift options in my website Shop Home category, so visit it for the complete selection. Elegant gift wrapping is free and it can be shipped directly to them.
Silver and glass tray by Kaminer Haislip
If you do not see specifically what you are looking for on my website Shop, contact me directly at kaminer@kaminerhaislip.com to design a custom commission gift. For details on commissioning bespoke pieces, visit the Commission Work page on this website.
Cheers to the happy couple!
South Carolina Arts Commission Grant
South Carolina Arts Commission Grant
I am extremely honored and excited to announce the South Carolina Arts Commission has awarded me an Arts Emergency Relief Grant as an individual artist. The grant program was developed to support individual artists and teaching artists who have lost income related to their artistic practice due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
South Carolina artists have reported due to the coronavirus pandemic, 95% have experienced loss, 66% have experienced unanticipated expenditures, and 63% have become fully unemployed. Cancelled events, exhibitions, markets, performances, concerts, festivals, openings, and many more arts related functions that generate revenue and a livelihood for artists have contributed to this astonishing loss. By the South Carolina Arts Commission creating this grant program, they are giving much needed assistance to artists across the state.
All of my exhibitions, shows, and events were cancelled this spring and summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Being awarded this grant has really helped off set the financial loss from those cancellations. I am very grateful for this grant and everything they do to assist artists and promote the arts in South Carolina!
In addition to the South Carolina Arts Commission and National Endowment for the Arts, this grant program was funded in part by a generous award from the South Carolina Arts Foundation.
The South Carolina Arts Foundation, a nonprofit organization established in 1972 dedicated to recognizing, encouraging and supporting the art and artists of South Carolina. Throughout its history, the Foundation has pursued creative ways to help the business community and private citizens contribute to a thriving arts community across the state. Learn more about this incredible organization at https://www.southcarolinaarts.com/foundation/
On June 7, 1967, Governor Robert E. McNair signed legislation that established the South Carolina Arts Commission, an autonomous state agency charged with guiding the development of the arts. For 50 years, the agency has worked to build a thriving arts environment that benefits all South Carolinians, regardless of their circumstances or where they live. With a commitment to excellence across the spectrum of the state’s cultures and forms of expression, the organization pursues its public charge to develop a thriving arts environment, which is essential to quality of life, education, and economic vitality for all South Carolinians. For more information on this wonderful organization and all they do for the arts in South Carolina visit https://www.southcarolinaarts.com/