MADE ON ISLAND
The Unique Jewelry and Collage Techniques of Beldan Radcliffe
Profile by Anne McCarthy Strauss
Drawing inspiration from her beautiful surroundings here on Martha’s Vineyard, Beldan Radcliffe makes her living designing and creating handmade jewelry, paper collaged lampshades, original prints, and a new series of decorative tiles using imagery from her uniquely designed etching plates. Known primarily for her etchings and lampshades, Beldan says jewelry comprises one-third of her work.
Beldan studied anthropology at Vassar College and photography at the Rochester Institute of Technology. But it was a printmaking course given by Fae Kontje at the Featherstone Center for the Arts that set her on her career path as a printmaker and collage artist. Beldan fell so much in love with the arts of printmaking and copper plate etching that she continued her art education, taking additional courses at the Massachusetts College of Art.
She focused on a collage technique called chine collé in which the collage is made right on the etching press. The image is transferred from the etching plate to collage papers and bonded to a heavier printmaking paper in the printing process.
Beldan creates her jewelry by printing miniature forms of her etchings. The images are often objects from nature. Her favorites are butterflies, dragonflies and birds. “I especially like chickadees, butterflies, and dragonflies,” she says. Other favorites are shells and grapevines.
The miniature etchings are enclosed in sterling silver lockets, or sometimes soldered behind two pieces of glass, creating a piece of wearable art. Next, Beldan strings them onto sterling silver or gold-filled chains, embellishing some with dangling semiprecious stones.
All of her necklaces are reversible. “I like people to have options,” she says. “It’s like having two necklaces in one.”
Some of Beldan’s collage jewelry is complimented by the addition of pieces of sea glass in corresponding colors. “I collect the glass from beaches and drill holes in it or wrap it in silver,” she says. “I use the glass in its natural form, the way it was found.”
“I find that the more passionate I am about what I’m making, the more successful I am,” she says. “I’ve done well by following my instincts in my jewelry designs. I find that if I especially like a particular design, it sells well.”
“I’ve been making jewelry since I was in high school,” Beldan continued. “During college I would sell my pieces to supplement my income. At the time, my jewelry was mostly made with beads – it was before I had discovered chine collé.”
Today, Beldan sells her creations at the Vineyard Artisan’s Festivals, the Featherstone Flea and Fine Arts Market, the Chilmark Flea Market and on her website, www.beldankradcliffe.com.
A native of Wappingers Falls, New York, Beldan has made her home on the Vineyard since 1996. She and her husband David are also Farm Stewards at Pilot Hill Farm, a private homeowners association that was developed around the farm. They grow vegetables, flowers, and herbs in the garden and sell their produce and eggs.
When not in her studio, at an artisan fair, or cutting flowers from their gardens, Beldan works as a teaching assistant at the West Tisbury school.
“I find time to be in my studio whenever I can,” she says. She works alone in this peaceful setting, with the company of her two dogs, Nellie and Point, and the radio in the background playing NPR or a jazz album. “I enjoy both working alone and meeting and talking with the great people I meet when I sell my work at the fairs. It’s a nice balance.”
Beldan studied anthropology at Vassar College and photography at the Rochester Institute of Technology. But it was a printmaking course given by Fae Kontje at the Featherstone Center for the Arts that set her on her career path as a printmaker and collage artist. Beldan fell so much in love with the arts of printmaking and copper plate etching that she continued her art education, taking additional courses at the Massachusetts College of Art.
She focused on a collage technique called chine collé in which the collage is made right on the etching press. The image is transferred from the etching plate to collage papers and bonded to a heavier printmaking paper in the printing process.
Beldan creates her jewelry by printing miniature forms of her etchings. The images are often objects from nature. Her favorites are butterflies, dragonflies and birds. “I especially like chickadees, butterflies, and dragonflies,” she says. Other favorites are shells and grapevines.
The miniature etchings are enclosed in sterling silver lockets, or sometimes soldered behind two pieces of glass, creating a piece of wearable art. Next, Beldan strings them onto sterling silver or gold-filled chains, embellishing some with dangling semiprecious stones.
All of her necklaces are reversible. “I like people to have options,” she says. “It’s like having two necklaces in one.”
Some of Beldan’s collage jewelry is complimented by the addition of pieces of sea glass in corresponding colors. “I collect the glass from beaches and drill holes in it or wrap it in silver,” she says. “I use the glass in its natural form, the way it was found.”
“I find that the more passionate I am about what I’m making, the more successful I am,” she says. “I’ve done well by following my instincts in my jewelry designs. I find that if I especially like a particular design, it sells well.”
“I’ve been making jewelry since I was in high school,” Beldan continued. “During college I would sell my pieces to supplement my income. At the time, my jewelry was mostly made with beads – it was before I had discovered chine collé.”
Today, Beldan sells her creations at the Vineyard Artisan’s Festivals, the Featherstone Flea and Fine Arts Market, the Chilmark Flea Market and on her website, www.beldankradcliffe.com.
A native of Wappingers Falls, New York, Beldan has made her home on the Vineyard since 1996. She and her husband David are also Farm Stewards at Pilot Hill Farm, a private homeowners association that was developed around the farm. They grow vegetables, flowers, and herbs in the garden and sell their produce and eggs.
When not in her studio, at an artisan fair, or cutting flowers from their gardens, Beldan works as a teaching assistant at the West Tisbury school.
“I find time to be in my studio whenever I can,” she says. She works alone in this peaceful setting, with the company of her two dogs, Nellie and Point, and the radio in the background playing NPR or a jazz album. “I enjoy both working alone and meeting and talking with the great people I meet when I sell my work at the fairs. It’s a nice balance.”