Interview with Jewelry Designer Gail Crosman Moore

Gail Crosman Moore – Jewelry Design

Website – Link.

When you look at Gail Crosman Moore’s jewelry designs, you know you’re in for an amazing treat. Her work is stunning and intricate with details you’d never imagine. She started with glassblowing and created her own beads where her designs are inspired by the plant and animal kingdoms. At the same time, felting also plays a major role in her design work where she’s created beautiful, wearable works of art such as her felted flowers. I got a chance to talk to Gail to find out more about her design process and inspiration for creating such amazing jewelry!

Pictured (top to botttom, L to R): Felted Poppy – Wet felted, embellished with seed beads, Her latest work – fine silver over glass, showing pendants in their current state, Wire and Spiral abd Crochet necklace, both in collaboration with Karen Flowers, and Gail Crosman Moore at her studio (photo taken by her 12 year old daughter, Lily).

But first! Newsflash!! Gail Crosman Moore will also be teaching two amazing workshops at the upcoming Beadwork Bead Expo happening April 11-15 at the Oakland Marriott in Oakland, CA. You can also get in the know of upcoming new events and previews at the Beadwork Bead Expo Blog. – Link.

• Felted Bead Bracelet: (Pictured left) Wed, April 11th, 2-5pm. – Link.
• Felted Floral Brooch: (Pictured right) Wed, April 11th, 9am-Noon. – Link.

Nat: Please tell us about your background in jewelry.

Gail: My jewelry making came out of the desire and a need to incorporate the small “sculptures”. I was amassing during my initial love affair with glass. I studied both metalsmithing and glassblowing while at Massachusetts College of Art. The metal alone didn’t offer me the color or sculptability that glass did but I learned some skills and started to think in terms of “small wearable sculpture” and started creating some jewelry. The glass work at Mass art was blown, working from a furnace and the scale of my glass work just wasn’t right. Fast forward a few years, I took a lampworking class from Kristina Logan and I was hooked. I felt like I had found my way home. Since then I always have my eyes open to different materials, textures and forms and am always thinking of ways to incorporate all of these ingredients into wearable art!

Nat: When did your felted jewelry come about?

Gail: Approximately 5 years ago I wrote for a grant through a philanthropical organization entitled A.R.T., which stands for Art Renewal for Teachers. I was awarded this grant and my proposal was to “learn all that I could about felt”, so I rounded up all available books on the subject and some fleece and started experimenting. Subsequently I took a couple of workshops and have been using it in conjunction with my other skills ever since.

Nat: What is your design process?

Gail: I get a vision or an idea and I set about making it tangible. Rarely do I draw it first, only if I am trying to communicate it to someone else. A critical ingredient in my process is incorporating opposites. I love using hard/soft, big/little, shiny/mat, fuzzy/smooth. This is one of the reasons that I enjoy the felt making in conjunction with the bead embellishment.

Nat: What have been some of your favorite jewelry pieces you’ve created and why?

Gail: Some of my very favorite jewelry is the work that I have collaborated on with Karen Flowers. She and I have worked together for about 7 years, exercising the ideal of opposites by incorporating small beads with larger ones considering dimensionality. I hate anything to take up space in just two dimensions! I really liked using taxidermy eyes and filling hollow blown beads with objects and turning them into wearable objects.

Nat: Can you share with us a some jewelry making or felting tips?

Gail: Figure out WHAT you want to make and then MAKE it! All skills build on what you already have in your skills bank. Experiment, work through challenges, ask for help when you need it, and make it fun!

Nat: What other projects are you working on this spring?

Gail: Some new work with glass and fine silver!