Jean Yates review of Wirework by Dale "Cougar" Armstrong

The Beauty of Balance in Wire Wrapping and Designing, by Jean Yates:

a review

WIREWORK

AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO THE ART OF WIRE WRAPPING

by Dale "Cougar" Armstrong

To enjoy wire wrapping, and to not instantly recognize the name Dale "Cougar" Armstrong, is an impossibility. Wire wrapping, and the author of this lovely book, go hand in hand.

Ms. Armstrong's is a name we wire wrappers all respect and recognize.

Her beautiful, distinctive work is seen in many jewelry magazines, and demonstrated on DVDs as well. Additionally, she teaches all over the country.

Now she has a great new book out: WIREWORK, An Illustrated Guide to Wire Wrapping.

I have had the good fortune to read it, and it urges me to grab my wire of all sorts, my pliers and a bunch of my other tools, and get going on wrapping some wire, twisting some wire, and capturing some gorgeous stones and scrimshaw in frames of wire!

What Dale "Cougar" Armstrong does is so exuberant, and so full of fabulous energy, you will be inspired to try your hand at her style of wire wrapping, I guarantee! You will also understand to a greater degree than before what properties dead-soft wire, half-round wire, and square wire avail you. This is very helpful, at least it was to me. Along with the great explanation of the tools you will be requiring to create the pieces in the book, you've got a fine head start on making some gorgeous jewelry!

This great book is a "start to finish" course in how to wrap like Dale does. And trust me, you will want to give it a try, after just one glance at the ornate cabochon bracelet which is throwing off sparks of beauty on the book's cover. Incidentally, you may choose to use a different type of stone cab for your bracelet, but the cabochon stone which is shown is called "eudyalite". I thought I had seen it all, but, as they say, the author started out as a "rock hound", and the beautiful cab framed in this bracelet is an example of the exotic type of stone you just don't get to see in most jewelry design books. I would go to great lengths to obtain one like it, when trying to recreate this lovely piece. What a motivator! The rhodolite garnets the author chooses to use with it as accents really show it off wonderfully, as well. It's not the whole point, but it is a great example of how the author balances her love of wire (twisted, flat, in two colors, and also in tiny spirals ... all in this one piece: wow!) with her love of beautiful stones and focals. It is a stellar combination by this fine jewelry designer, teacher, and artist.

However, it is also great fun to see examples of the same bracelet made by different artists, using different stones. I loved that! Therefore, if you were to try making this bracelet with a different color cab entirely, you would have a whole different jewelry piece. This illustrates something which is good about this book, as well. Over and over, once you get the basics down, due to the solid teaching WIREWORK offers, you will see that you will keep learning more and more.

It all begins with that nicely photographed, easy to understand section which encompasses the wire and the list of the tools you will require. As you read along, WIREWORK stretches your knowledge to the point that ultimately you come to a major realization. What you realize is that potentially there is no limit to what you can achieve with your new-found skills in the art of wire wrapping. Possibly that is why Dale "Cougar" Armstrong has had such a solid following of students and devotees for many years. Maybe it is also why her pieces exude such life and energy. She clearly loves what she does! It's great to read a jewelry design book by an author whose boundless enthusiasm is so obvious, and whose expertise is so endlessly helpful.

I loved the rings she designs and the earrings are great! They hark back to jewelry which might have been worn thousands of years ago. That is one of the good things about basing your jewelry upon the classic use of your hands as the main tool, and then your choices of wire, and your selections of stones. Wire work has survived through the ages, and will live on as long as humans continue to love to decorate themselves with things of beauty. Dale "Cougar" Armstrong has done much to contribute to keeping the home fires burning in the sense that her designs and her level of teaching are of the highest quality. I can easily envision Babylonian princesses and Roman countesses wearing her jewelry! You will see what I mean if you view her "Freeform Orbit ring" or her "Gem Drop" earrings. Her pieces (and those of the artists also presented in this book) are, at the same time, right up-to-date. You get it all in WIREWORK!

Finally, there is a great gallery of jewelry pieces in WIREWORK to encourage the reader further, when the projects have been studied and poured over.

Note: If you haven't learned at least one new thing by the time you reach the gallery, I will eat my favorite pliers!

I totally enjoyed this fun and wonderful wire wrapping book, WIREWORK, by Dale "Cougar" Armstrong. She is a gem!