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Arts & Entertainment

Jazzed about Jewelry and Mad about Metals

Pleiades annual show and sale tempts with fine handcrafted work.

Get ready to get your shopping groove on, whether for holiday gifts for others or some one-of-a-kind bling for your own collection.

Head to the this weekend where the Pleiades 26th Annual show represents handcrafted works of jewelry and metals. Pleiades, created by a local group of seven artists in 1985, took its name from the Seven Sisters constellation. Now a core group of 10, from enamellists to goldsmiths, offering chunky looks to delicate creations, their work represents the best of their genres.

Individually, the work of Pleiades artists is displayed in galleries, juried exhibitions, private collections, fine art and craft shows and the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Several are or have been teachers in their particular techniques.

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The jewelry at the show includes designs in dichroic glass, pearls, gemstones, enamels, beach stones and sand dollars, with fusions of contemporary and traditional and inspirations from nature to geometry. They offer the artists’ unique interpretations of light, texture, color, simplicity and elegance, form and substance, whimsy and wearability.   

Regular members exhibiting this year are Cindy Calahan, Pamela Hill-Byrne, Susana M. Garten, Betty Helen Longhi, Jan Maddox, Jan Mandel, Carol Oshinsky, Pat Perito, Judy Sugar and Mary Ellen Trozzo. They’ll be joined by guest artists Jessica Beels, Rachel Carren, Alexan Cerna, Analya Cespedes, Odaybea Morrow, JoAnn Pearcy, Cyd Rowley, Sue Sachs and Katja Toporski. This guest artist roster changes each year.

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Two student artists, Jessica Todd and Irene Woo, are also participating and mentored by the group members in a program begun in 2009 -- both are students of Michael R. Schwartz at in Kensington.

Pleiades celebrated the 25th anniversary of its annual sale last year by mounting a display of work from the seven original members, as well as showing and selling the work of current members and guests. The original seven “sisters” were artists Haesun Chung (Meon), Deborah Dubois, Joan Levy, Desiree Midgett, Pat Perito, Judy Sugar and Marie Susinno. Nearly triple its original size, Pleiades now has 20 artists, and nearly 70 artists have participated in the group over its 26-year history. All but one of the artists in the show and sale this year are from the metro Washington, D.C. area.

Feeling lucky? All attendees are eligible for one of 20 door prizes, each a piece of jewelry or metalwork made by one of the exhibitors. 

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The Pleaides Show will take place November 12 and 13, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. at The Woman's Club of Bethesda, 5500 Sonoma Road, Bethesda. Admission and parking are free.

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