The Marriage of Metal and Felt: Show Stopping Jewelry by Michele A Friedman

Inside: Discover the creative world of Michele A. Friedman, a Chicago-based artist. Learn how she combines metal and felt to create stunning jewelry.

This interview was originally published in the November 2024 Digital Edition of Crochet Foundry Magazine.

Welcome Michele, we are so glad to have you here in the Crochet Foundry Community.

Would you please tell us a little about who you are and what you do?

I am a native Chicagoan and still live in the city with my husband and two cats. I am an art and design lover. I love to travel. I love good food. And I love my Cubbies, good times and bad. I grew up taking all kinds of lessons and classes including ballet and tennis but consistently excelled in anything related to the visual arts. My path from a young age was to attend Parsons School of Design and become a fashion designer. Once I made it to Parsons I decided during my foundation year that fashion was too limiting artistically speaking, but I wanted to still be related to fashion. I loved my sculpture class and was constantly sketching random shapes. I put it all together and decided to major in Metals. When I returned to Chicago from NYC I worked for a goldsmith and a contemporary craft gallery for several years. I was exposed to the craft marketplace and the business side of the craft world during this period. I started doing art fairs and craft shows in 1997. I have been a full time jewelry artist since 1998.

When you started making jewelry, you weren’t using felt; why did you start adding felt to your creations?

My first lines of jewelry were without color. I employed the techniques of marriage of metals with different colored metals, used cold connections with screws and also added kinetic elements in my work. I wanted to incorporate color into my work without setting stones. I love stones and learned a lot about them when I worked for the goldsmith and the gallery but wanted to do something different. The years passed while I pondered, experimented and considered many alternative materials; my husband dangled that perhaps I was afraid of color? In my mind’s eye I had wanted saturated color and a hint of texture. I eventually proved him wrong when I saw some wool felt. It was a game changer. It was then that I knew I had found my alternative material. It is durable, pliable and possesses the characteristics I was looking for all along. The FELT line of jewelry became a coherent body of work in 2006.

Did you have to come up with your own technique to make your metal and felt pieces, and if so, what did that journey look like?

I am not a fiber artist. I did in fact develop a technique to serve my needs. I use a commercial wool felt sheet and manipulate it into shapes and set or inlay them into bezels or channels like a stone. I use water repellent fabric glue in most cases to make the shapes and use it to secure the felt into the metalwork. It amazes me that almost 20 years into this body of work that I still have ideas and that the materials still challenge me. My work is largely about color, pattern and texture. That I use wool felt in my work is serendipitous. Initially I felt the metal work took a back seat to it. It does to a great extent, but I have become comfortable with this irony as without the metal work as the basis to tell my story in color and wool felt, there would be nothing.

I had already been doing this work when I took a welt felting workshop in Chicago years ago. I loved the workshop. I bought roving and soap and thought I had ideas. When I got home and started I decided that the technique was not for me. The pressure points in my hands hurt so much and I think because my fingers are so calloused from metal working, my hands were continually peeling while they were prune-y wet. One day I would like to take a needle felting class. As a metal smith, I think the technique would better serve my sensibilities.

How do you come up with all the beautiful designs? Where does your inspiration come from?

I practically grew up in the Art Institute of Chicago. The outdoor sculpture, architecture and architectural and historical details all around the city definitely lit my passion for art, design and architecture. A history of design class at Parsons in particular was also transformational. My work and even more so, my design sensibility is definitely inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles Rennie Mackintosh, the Bauhaus, Mid-Century Modern Design at every level, as well as artists like Kandinsky, Picasso, Miro, Calder, Stella and Kelly among so many others I cannot list them all.

I also find that traveling abroad has a huge influence on my work. Exploring different cultures, their architecture, landscaping, city planning, design, cuisine, history are all absorbed into my subconscious. I often do not know until years later to see how my experiences manifest themselves into my work.

Who gets more excited about your jewelry, people at a jewelry show, or people at a fiber show?

Easy, fiber people at any show!

What advice would you give to aspiring artists?

Be a sponge. Never stop exploring. Let your experiences inform your work. Save money when possible. Learn how to write. Apply for grants. Learn how to sell your work.  Keep at it. Don’t accept when people tell you should get a real job. The very first thing I learned at Parsons, was there motto at the time, “There’s no excuse for a poor artist”.

I know I already bought a stunning pair of earrings from you, but if someone wants to buy me more of your jewelry as a gift, but they aren’t sure which piece, do you have gift cards? (I REALLY want both the Jack and Jill Necklaces  – one to represent each of my kids.)

I am glad that you are enjoying your earrings! I do sell gift cards through my website. It goes through Square. If I remember correctly, it is actually a Square Gift Card. One day I will get a better website that offers my possibilities/options. Let me know if I can be of assistance.

What do you enjoy most about what you do?

Traveling is a big deal. There are parts of the country I know I would not have visited and experiences I have had had it not been for what I do. The relationships with customers and my peers are very important to me. I know some very interesting and talented people.

The favorite part of what I do in the studio is designing and making the very first item of any design. I do love soldering too.

Is there anything else we should know about you or your art?

The Art Institute is my safe place. I am a frustrated architect. Not necessarily art related, but I have wanderlust. I listen to loud music. I am also a clothes horse and love fashion.

Where can our readers find you and all your amazing art and products online, and maybe even offline?

I typically participate in art fairs and craft shows all over the country and somewhat more recently, fiber shows. I also try to incorporate online events into my schedule too. I try to keep my website up to date under “Show/Event Schedule”. I do not do much wholesaling of my work due to the cost of silver, but will try to list brick and mortar establishments when appropriate.  Sign up for my email mailing list through my website to be informed of my schedule and news!

 My website is: www.micheleafriedman.com

Instagram Handle is: @mafdesign1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MicheleAFriedmanJewelry/

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

My Cart
0
Add Coupon Code
Subtotal
Total Installment Payments
Bundle Discount