C. Linea Jewelry

admin — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:50:55 +0000

Every year tens of thousands of people walk up the steps made famous in the series of Rocky movies—the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. As they walk through that museum, they have an opportunity to view a special jewelry collection. The fashionably modern and artfully practical pieces in that collection were created by the skilled hands that created all of the C. Linea jewelry.

Some of those who stare at the geometric shapes in the C. Linea jewelry might wonder, “Who is this C. Linea?” Others who take the time to study the blended colors in the same jewelry could well ask themselves, “How can one learn more about this C. Linea?” The fact is that there is no biographical material about someone who goes by the name C, Linea.

All of the C. Linea jewelry was created by Cara Tilker. Early in her career, Ms. Tilker realized that her jewelry had distinctive lines. She thus decided to include mention of that characteristic in the name for her jewelry. The word “linea” is Italian for line. Cara Tilker selected the name “C. Linea” for the many varied shapes in her ever-expanding line of jewelry.

In the mind of Cara Tilker, there is no limit to the number of different shapes that might be given to a piece of jewelry. Ms. Tilker thus chooses to work with jewelry-making materials that allow her to create an array of different shapes. She works with polyester resin and acrylic plastics.

Ms. Tilker likes the flexibility that she gains by working with plastics. She has said, “There are simply no restrictions to what I can create.” The many different shapes in the C. Linea jewelry are decorated with silicone molds. Those molds contain materials such as colored glass, feathers and porcelain.

One time Ms. Tilker created a line of C. Linea jewelry in which each piece contained fragments of an old building. All of those fragments had come from the Fallingwater House, a house that was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Having grown-up in New Jersey, Cara Tilker had had many chances to admire the architectural skill of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Other pieces of C. Linea jewelry have been decorated with elements of nature. Such pieces of jewelry can be found in the line of C. Linea jewelry that was designed for the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Other pieces of C. Linea jewelry contain items of a more whimsical nature. Those pieces of jewelry have been worn by members of the team that is part of Cirque de Soleil.

How did a young girl from New Jersey develop the ability to design jewelry for such a diverse group of people? Cara Tilker studied interior design at Syracuse University. By examining the interiors of multiple rooms, Ms. Tilker came to appreciate just how many different shapes can be molded from plastic.

Having gained that appreciation, she began to style jewelry using plastic. Her diligent and skillful efforts led to the creation of C. Linea jewelry.

C. Linea Jewelry official website: www.clinea.com

Joan Strott-Alvini Jewelry

admin — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 23:56:26 +0000

In colonial Philadelphia, one could find a man who knew that by heating potash with soda he could make glass. That man was a glassblower. He might have made glass for the old Tun Tavern on King Street. He might have had his shop in the area of the City near Independence Hall.

Today, Joan Strott-Alvini Jewelry is found in a shop near Independence Hall. That shop is one of many shops on Jewelers’ Row in Philadelphia. Joan Strott-Alvini, like the old glass blowers, has become familiar with the methods for transforming potash and sand into glass.

Joan Strott-Alvini makes customized, enamel jewelry. Enamel is colored glass that contains silicates. When potash, combined with soda or lime in the proper proportions, has been used to make glass, the result is called “flux.” As a clear substance, “flux” can serve as an attractive coating for copper. Once poured onto copper, “flux” takes-on a tan-like hue.

Joan Strott-Alvini Jewelry includes many pieces of tan jewelry. It also includes jewelry with other colors. Joan Strott-Alvini knows how to add color to flux. She knows how to add various oxides of metals. Using that technique, she has created pieces of jewelry with rich colors.

For certain residents of Pennsylvania, a journey to the shop with Joan Strott-Alvini Jewelry is not difficult or expensive. Residents who live close to the lines of the Reading Railroad can take a train into the Reading train station. That station is in center Philadelphia.

From that train station, one can walk over to Walnut Street. Walnut Street has many wonderful shops. Window shoppers love to spend time on Walnut Street. If a pedestrian takes Walnut Street down to 8th street and then travels in the direction of Chestnut Street, that pedestrian will find the shop with Joan Strott-Alvini Jewelry.

The window of this particular jewelry shop looks out on a brick-paved street near Independence Hall. The men who signed the U.S. Declaration of Independence walked on that same street. Of course they were not looking for jewelry. They might have been looking for an article of glass, an item made from some of the same materials that go into Joan Strott-Alvini Jewelry.

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C. Linea Jewelry

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