Designs in Gold - James Cleland

James Cleland applies in his inlay forms the fluid movement, symmetry and bright colors to simulate flying birds, flowering plants, or even resting insects. The geometric patterns of his work suggest to the mind an opening flower or the curve of an animal's body. His degrees in the field of biology and related sciences give him an acute understanding of "form follows function" in jewelry designs. A particular popular interest has been his line of insects where their body characteristics are species specific and are so lifelike they look like they could fly or sting. The latest phase is an interpretation of traditional Japanese design. These designs incorporate natural, geometric, and abstract forms, much as his work over the years has done.

Cleland creates animals and plants in intensely accurate representations by the old technique of "hollow form." A fellow renowned jewelry artist called him the "master of the pitch bowl," a technique Cleland often uses in his jewelry designs. To create Jim's interpretation of Japanese mons and kumons he uses different gold and silver overlays and inserts his own aspects by his use of stones and texture. His texture is created by the use of piercing and engraving which gives each piece its own unique depth. Several mon even rotate on an axis. Each mon is not only uniquely beautiful from the front but also each back has Japanese detail.

James Cleland, originally from Mascoutah, IL, remembers his interest in gems and jewelry beginning with a Sears rock grinder given to him by his mother as an eighth-grade graduation present. With the grinder he learned to cut freeform shapes out of rocks and gemstones which he would then set into findings from a local store.

In 1970, he graduated with a degree in biology from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. The next few years he spent taking classes on geology and petrology at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. During this time he opened a gem and mineral shop called the Carbondale Rock Shop and hired a bench jeweler to make the jewelry that the shop sold. After watching the jeweler work James decided making jewelry wasn't very complicated and he took over the task himself. In 1975, Cleland sold his Carbondale rock shop and moved across the street to open a larger store called Southern Illinois Gem Company. He stayed there until he married his wife Ginger in 1987, which sparked a move to St. Louis, MO and the creation of Designs In Gold.



		James Cleland applies in his inlay forms the fluid movement, symmetry and bright colors to simulate flying birds, flowering plants, or even resting insects. The geometric patterns of his work suggest to the mind an opening flower or the curve of an animal's body. His degrees in the field of biology and related sciences give him an acute understanding of "form follows function" in jewelry designs. A particular popular interest has been his line of insects where their body characteristics are species specific and are so lifelike they look like they could fly or sting. The latest phase is an interpretation of traditional Japanese design. These designs incorporate natural, geometric, and abstract forms, much as his work over the years has done. Cleland creates animals and plants in intensely accurate representations by the old technique of "hollow form." A fellow renowned jewelry artist called him the "master of the pitch bowl," a technique Cleland often uses in his jewelry designs. To create Jim's interpretation of Japanese mons and kumons he uses different gold and silver overlays and inserts his own aspects by his use of stones and texture. His texture is created by the use of piercing and engraving which gives each piece its own unique depth. Several mon even rotate on an axis. Each mon is not only uniquely beautiful from the front but also each back has Japanese detail. James Cleland, originally from Mascoutah, IL, remembers his interest in gems and jewelry beginning with a Sears rock grinder given to him by his mother as an eighth-grade graduation present. With the grinder he learned to cut freeform shapes out of rocks and gemstones which he would then set into findings from a local store. In 1970, he graduated with a degree in biology from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. The next few years he spent taking classes on geology and petrology at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. During this time he opened a gem and mineral shop called the Carbondale Rock Shop and hired a bench jeweler to make the jewelry that the shop sold. After watching the jeweler work James decided making jewelry wasn't very complicated and he took over the task himself. In 1975, Cleland sold his Carbondale rock shop and moved across the street to open a larger store called Southern Illinois Gem Company. He stayed there until he married his wife Ginger in 1987, which sparked a move to St. Louis, MO and the creation of Designs In Gold. James Cleland Designs in Gold 11006 Olive Blvd. St. Louis, MO. 63141 314-567-3530 www.jcleland.com e-mail James Home \| Artisans \| Membership \| News \| Contact \| Featured Craftsman \| Mission \| Links \| Members Only
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