Iris Mayes brings hand-crafted jewelry to January Meet the Artist session

Iris Mayes of Moscow will be featured with her hand-crafted jewelry at the first Meet the Artist session of 2012 next Thursday, Jan. 5, at the library in Colfax at 7 p.m. An employee of the Whitman County Public Works planning department, Mayes has had an eclectic background in the arts, trying everything from making paper to designing and sewing costumes to the performing arts and painting. She was even art director for a couple of local movies.

Iris earned a degree in English and public affairs at the University of Oregon in Eugene where she spent as much time as possible in the crafts center trying various arts and crafts. She said she must have come close to completing a minor in art.

Her first experience in bead work was at University of Oregon with small bead work such as peyote stitch rounds and flat work designs. She was immediately drawn to the idea that she could make many of the pieces of jewelry she saw. Her first projects tended to be simpler and most were given away to friends.

Later she decided to step up to using semi-precious stones in more sophisticated jewelry. She also learned to solder silver and has incorporated one of her favorite artistic motifs, the spiral, into her jewelry using silver wire.

“Silver is expensive so I limit the amount I use,” she noted.

She said she obtains most of her supplies, such as beads, stones and silver wire, on-line. Her favorite beads are Bali beads which she can find on-line.

“A couple of years ago I started making copper wire sculptures, mostly using a spiral design, and translated that into jewelry,” she said. Iris is quite fond of copper and has made copper chain necklaces with copper charms.

Iris now sells her jewelry at the Moscow farmer’s market, Moscow Co-op and on consignment at the UI Pritchard Gallery.

Iris grew up in Moscow and returned there after attending college at Eugene. She and her husband and six-year-old son Jack live in Moscow and Iris commutes to Colfax to work in the county planning department. She said she has always been interested in planning and completed a degree in planning at University of Idaho. She has worked on projects with the Coeur d’Alene Tribe which gave her the chance to meet tribal artists.

Iris also does encaustic painting with wax. She makes her own paint using earth pigments and paints the wax onto a board similar to Masonite. She agreed to bring along some samples of her painting to Meet the Artist along with her jewelry.

Plans for the future: to learn ceramics, fused glass and stained glass.

The Meet the Artist series is sponsored by Colfax Arts Council and Whitman County Library on the first Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. in the library meeting room.