This year's event will honor Axel Russmeyer, the renowned artist who has been creating jewelry out of glass beads for the last two decades. Russmeyer always finds new and innovative ways to combine beads, some new and some old, to create beautiful and unique pieces.
Ritsuko Ogura
Ogura uses cardboard, a material that is most often discarded, to make her jewelry. By cutting, folding, and adding color to the cardboard Ogura is able to create surprisingly beautiful and sculptural pieces. Kate Cusack
Cusack has a hit on her hands with the Zipper Jewelry.
"The fastener becomes the feature" explaines Cusak. The artist uses zippers to
make easy to wear and stylish necklaces, bracelets, and pins.Andre Ribeiro
Inspired by a black sealing ring used for plumbing pipes, Rebeiro designs jewelry made of diamonds and rubber, an unlikely combination that has won him numerous accolades and landed him in the collections of some of the world's most important museums. Marianne Anderson
Anderson is one of the more traditional jewelers at Loot. Although the artist's palette is restricted to garnets and pearls set in oxidized silver and 18k gold she is able to come up with fascinating combinations that are never redundant. While her garnet rings look incredibly chic when worn together, it is Anderson's collection of swirling brooches inspired decorative ironwork that are most whimsical.Nastassia Aleinikava
Born in Belarus, Aleinikava studied under Eva Eisler in Prague, where she now lives and works. The artist's collections are thematic, most frequently focusing on nature. Aleinikava creates sculptural, yet wearable, forms out of silver. Akiko Ban
Ban says that she is inspired by her past and by her future and each piece of jewelry allows her to relive the moment of conception. The artist's jewelry, mostly made of silver, encapsulates important memories in her life.Cecile Betrand
A textile designer by training, Betrand's whimsical «pastilles» necklaces and bracelets made of out silk scarves, neck ties and dresses, are made in limited edition. She also has a «basic» collection of colorful satin necklaces made of rolled-up fabric beads. The artist's necklaces printed with images of fairytale characters or tourist scenes, such as the sites of Paris, are the most fun.Maria Cristina Bellucci
Of her work Bellucci says, "I love materials I see in every day life. I see them with my conditioned eyes to seek beauty everywhere. It’s fun to change the concept of everyday object, by taking the
object away from its contest, deconstructing and transforming it into a
piece of jewellery, gaining a total new meaning." There is no material more part of our everyday life than a pencil. But cutting and fitting colored pencils together, the artist has created the most unusual jewelry out of the most ordinary material. Amanda Caines
Caines describes herself as a mixed media jeweler. Employing the materials that she collects on her daily walks around the Thames in London, Caines creates one of a kind necklaces, bracelets, and brooches.
