Tag: Fine Arts Degree

CNM Student and Artist Weaves Wire Jewelry Into Fine Art

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By Wade Faast, CNM Chronicle

Local jewelry designer and CNM student Jack Boglioli is working to take the craft of metal wire weave jewelry into the realm of fine art.

Wire weave jewelry has gotten a bad reputation for being sloppy or lacking in skill, Boglioli said.

Boglioli aims to change that by bringing an attention to detail and refined skill that hasn’t been seen in the creation of wire weave, he said.

All Boglioli’s pieces are hand crafted from precious metals and stones, small pieces taking as little as an hour and a half, to more complex designs taking upwards of 200 hours after the initial sketches and designs.

“Images get stuck in my head and I need to get them out” Boglioli said.

Each piece of jewelry starts as a concept in his own mind, he then sketches out the design on paper and uses that to keep his focus on maintaining the high level of detail his is known for.

Boglioli says his biggest inspiration comes from European Gothic architecture.

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Boglioli’s pieces start out as a image in his head, followed by a detailed sketch which he uses as a blueprint and after hours of work the result is a unique piece of hand crafted art. (Wade Faast/CNM Chronicle)

The design and crafting of his jewelry is an ever evolving art that he feels keeps challenging him and encouraging him to grow, he said.

“Growth comes from pushing against resistance” he said.

According to Boglioli some of his best works and advances in skill have after challenging himself to try something harder or do something that hasn’t been done before in the art of wire weave jewelry.

Nine years ago Boglioli stumbled onto the wire weave jewelry at an art show and he was hooked on the idea that he could do it, he said.

When he first started out his jewelry was closer to traditional wire weave jewelry and it didn’t suit his needs or artistic style, Boglioli said.

His early works were organic and free flowing with little planning and no sketches or designs thought out ahead of time, he said.

Soon he found himself frustrated and not satisfied with his own work, so he started to incorporate elements of classic art and design into his jewelry and began planning each piece out.

Now each of his pieces starts out as an idea in his head, is sketched out in detail at 1:1 size then he follows that sketch like a blue print, he said.

These extra steps allowed him to take his work to the level of art he appreciates, the meticulous attention to detail that has set his work above others, he said.

Boglioli credits classes at CNM for helping him refine his art.

Specifically math 1340 geometry for design, the class taught him how to better use geometric elements in his craft, he said.

“Understanding how to run a business, and how not to go broke doing so is just as important as the jewelry” Boglioli said.
After finishing up the classes for his associates of fine arts at CNM Boglioli is now taking classes to grow the business side of his work.

Currently Boglioli’s work can be found in several galleries in Old Town Albuquerque and on his website at www.jackboglioli.com.

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Wire wrap jewelry takes patience and a steady hand. Not including design time, complex pieces can require upwards of 200 hours of labor. (Wade Faast/CNM Chronicle)

Fine Arts changes requirements, adds new classes

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By Angela Le Quieu, Staff Reporter | Photo by Angela Le Quieu

Art Practices I teacher Harley McDaniel looks over his students’ progress.
Art Practices I teacher Harley McDaniel looks over his students’ progress.

In the Fall 2014 Course Catalog there will be changes that will effect students with a Fine Arts major, including new program approved electives and classes such as jewelry making.
Fine Arts Instructor, Harley McDaniel said that the changes are intended to allow them more flexibility, to make the transfer to UNM simpler, and give students applicable skills in the work force.
“There are pretty major changes, previously we basically dictated every course you had to take and that was kind of difficult for students because it didn’t give them a lot of options,” McDaniel said.
The new curriculum for the Fall 2014 term is part of an effort that McDaniel has made to streamline both Fine Arts degree concentrations, Studio Arts and Art History, he said.
Rather than having specific classes that students would be required to take, they will be able to choose three classes from program approved electives, and this will allow students more freedom to tailor their classes and learning to their own needs, McDaniel said.
One of the big advantages of this is that new art classes can be added to the program approved electives without changes to the greater curriculum being needed, and McDaniel said that the new catalog will reflect that as three jewelry classes that will be added as well as a second level ceramics class.
Facilities for the jewelry classes are still in the works, so the classes will not be offered in the fall, but McDaniel hopes to have the classes available for the 2015 catalog, which would offer students embedded certificates such as a bench jeweler’s certification, he said.
“So the dream is that down the road we’ll have the opportunity for people to have other embedded certificates like production pottery, portrait photography, things like that that would increase employ-ability at local employers,” McDaniel said.
Another aspect of the changes that have been made involved cleaning up the requirements to match with UNM, and McDaniel said CNM already has an articulation agreement with UNM, but that the changes will be more in line with what UNM is doing currently.
It was changes in UNM’s classes from 2D and 3D design to Art Practices one and two that spurred the rewriting of CNM’s curriculum for Fine Arts majors, he said.
“I went and I worked with their curriculum, I worked with their fine arts advisement coordinator, so that we would be able to have a more flexible program that would serve the needs of everybody, those who are transferring and those who are just interested in getting their associate,” McDaniel said.
These changes should also make it easier for students to get their Fine Arts degree as some of the other requirements will be changing as well, such as students only being required to take one foreign language class instead of two, McDaniel said.
McDaniel’s intent when he was working on the changes was not to make it easier for more people to get degrees, but that he wanted to work with the program already in place to make it serve the needs of the students in a better capacity, he said.
“It removes some of the hurdles that were more difficult and of course there is an underlying goal to get more degrees, but it is my primary goal to best serve the student, and what is best for the student, and what is going to be best for their educational needs,” McDaniel said.
The changes will not be official until the fall semester 2014 Course Catalog is published, and once the changes are in effect any student who takes one class under the new catalog can use it; any Fine Arts majors interested in learning about the changes can speak to McDaniel, he said.
“I like to try to kind of serve as a faculty advisor to students who are trying to navigate the curriculum, because I know it really well after building it—I know it inside and out. I can look at what they’ve done, so if someone shows up with their transcripts, I can really give them a sense of clarity of what they should do moving forward,” McDaniel said.
McDaniel can be contacted by email at hmcdaniel@cnm.edu to set up a time to meet, and said he is willing to help any students planning for the changes who bring an unofficial printout of their transcripts.