CRAFTS : Jewelry-Maker Pins Hopes on Whimsical
Jewelry-maker Joanne B. Thompson credits the “free-spirited” ’70s and California living for the sense of whimsy that brings smiles to many who see her work.
“I come from the blue-jean era,” said the easygoing Thompson, 35, who has lived in Orange County since childhood.
Using mostly sterling silver, Thompson makes aptly named “scene pins” populated with people, animals and other figurative elements. A tiny parachutist, a helicopter and two planes dangle from puffy clouds in “Jump”; a dinosaur lumbers past a palm tree and erupting volcano in “Prehistoric Times,” and a flaming sun emerges from behind a craggy hill where flowers sprout in “Sunrise Flowers.”
Her earrings, often 14-karat gold-plated, sometimes borrow imagery from her pins, portray an abstract design or depict such playful activities as a hungry frog working to snag a dragonfly with his wily tongue.
She most often combines highly polished and matte surfaces for a clean, streamlined look. She also makes silver bracelets and belts.
“I just do what I like,” she said. “I think people really want to have fun, and they see it in the jewelry.”
Thompson, who has been making jewelry since the late ‘70s, will take part again this year in the second Sawdust Winter Fantasy of arts and crafts. It’s a 10-day winter version of the longer summer Sawdust Festival, held at the same spot along Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach. She’ll join some 150 other artisans in the non-juried, family-style affair, which also will feature Santa Claus, fake snow for kids to tromp through and Christmas-oriented entertainment and arts and crafts such as tree ornaments.
This year’s Winter Fantasy includes 50 more artisans than last year and is more than twice as long, said co-chairman Chris Krach. “We had a very successful first year, and all the exhibitors and patrons felt it should be longer,” Krach said.
Thompson sells her work at several Southern California craft fairs, including the Sawdust Festival, which has been a mainstay for six years. The Dan Miller Jewelry Store in Laguna Beach and some other shops also carry her wares, which range from $25 to $250. Her “Jump” scene pin costs $200, and silver frog earrings are $65.
Her creative bent began early, and she drew and made beaded necklaces and other trinkets as a child, she said. Her serious training started after she took a jewelry fabrication course at Orange Coast College, when a friend hired her as an apprentice in his Corona del Mar jewelry store. Then, in 1978, she began to work with her husband-to-be, also a jeweler, again mainly doing repair work.
Oddly enough, Thompson cut her teeth in gold, then switched to less expensive metals, such as silver. For many novices, it works the other way around, but she never felt intimidated.
“I was taught you have to dig into it and don’t be afraid to make mistakes and fix your mistakes,” she said. “Also, I had top-of-the-line people giving me advice, and I had a natural ability too.”
She developed her own distinctive line around 1980 and has been adding new designs since. She plans to have some new Christmas-themed pieces at Winter Fantasy.
She says the most gratifying aspect of what she does is watching customers “take home something they love,” she said. The flip side is hand-polishing her silver, which she does with a gritty compound and a polishing wheel.
“It’s dirty, and it takes a long time,” she said with a good-natured grin.
The Sawdust Winter Fantasy arts and crafts show runs Nov. 19-29, excluding Thanksgiving, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., at 935 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach. Admission, $2. Information: (714) 494-3030.
