The Call of the Sea
From the dawn of humanity, mankind has gathered near bodies of water. The living environment of streams, rivers and oceans continues to hold a fascination for many of us. We seem to hear the water calling us to walk along the beach, toss pebbles into ponds and sail across oceans.
I feel the call of the sea and am compelled to create personal ornamentation. Fair Winds Jewelry collections articulate a relationship with bodies of water and the vessels that navigate them.
Radiating wavelike patterns call to mind the patterns left in the beach by the endless waves and the ripples of a pebble tossed in a still pond. The same patterns are found in creatures which reside in the ocean.
I’ve always lived on or near bodies of water on the East coast of the United States, including living aboard a sailboat for 12 years as well as cruising the Intracoastal Waterway. This obsession with the forms of maritime vessels has translated into striking jewelry that adorns the body in the way a vessel interacts with a body of water.
Barb Baur
Fair Winds Jewelry
About Barb Baur
Barb Baur is a Philadelphia based artist, maker and educator. She primarily makes art jewelry, however she has been known to belly dance, repair musical instruments and sail the East Coast of the U.S.
Barb’s artwork interacts with the body and is created using traditional gold/silversmithing techniques combined with modern fabrication tools like CAD (computer aided design) and 3D printing. Drawing on her time on a sailboat, Barb’s artwork is inspired by the coastal landscape, sea life, sailing vessels, wind and water. Barb is the Program Manager of the TaconyLAB Community Arts Center in Northeast Philadelphia.