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  Cynthia Toops & Dan Adams

  Trees

  2023
  Double sided necklace. Polymer clay micromosaics by Cynthia Toops, Sterling silver metalwork and most wood elements by Dan Adams, glass beads, paper, amber.
  20" l x 1/2" d. The largest bead is 1 1/2" w and the smallest bead is 3/4" w.

  15,140. USD

  "Trees is the first piece we worked on. Each beads is associated with a particular tree. On one side is either a slice of wood or a product made rom the tree. On the reverse side is an animal that nests or feeds (bark, berries, fruit, leaves) on the tree. It was a fun project, but required a lot of research. We found ourselves asking questions like:
  A. What tree did this wood come from?
  B. What animals are associated with the tree or its environs?
  C. what products are made from the tree?"

  Inquire

• 

  Cynthia Toops & Dan Adams

  Trees

  2023
  Double sided necklace. Polymer clay micromosaics by Cynthia Toops, Sterling silver metalwork and most wood elements by Dan Adams, glass beads, paper, amber.
  20" l x 1/2" d. The largest bead is 1 1/2" w and the smallest bead is 3/4" w.

  15,140. USD

  "Trees is the first piece we worked on. Each beads is associated with a particular tree. On one side is either a slice of wood or a product made rom the tree. On the reverse side is an animal that nests or feeds (bark, berries, fruit, leaves) on the tree. It was a fun project, but required a lot of research. We found ourselves asking questions like:
  A. What tree did this wood come from?
  B. What animals are associated with the tree or its environs?
  C. what products are made from the tree?"

  Inquire

• 

  Cynthia Toops & Dan Adams

  Trees

  2023
  Double sided necklace. Polymer clay micromosaics by Cynthia Toops, Sterling silver metalwork and most wood elements by Dan Adams, glass beads, paper, amber.
  20" l x 1/2" d. The largest bead is 1 1/2" w and the smallest bead is 3/4" w.

  15,140. USD

  "Trees is the first piece we worked on. Each beads is associated with a particular tree. On one side is either a slice of wood or a product made rom the tree. On the reverse side is an animal that nests or feeds (bark, berries, fruit, leaves) on the tree. It was a fun project, but required a lot of research. We found ourselves asking questions like:
  A. What tree did this wood come from?
  B. What animals are associated with the tree or its environs?
  C. what products are made from the tree?"

  Inquire

• Cynthia Toops & Dan Adams

  Trees

  2023
  Double sided necklace. Polymer clay micromosaics by Cynthia Toops, Sterling silver metalwork and most wood elements by Dan Adams, glass beads, paper, amber.
  20" l x 1/2" d. The largest bead is 1 1/2" w and the smallest bead is 3/4" w.

  15,140. USD

  "Trees is the first piece we worked on. Each beads is associated with a particular tree. On one side is either a slice of wood or a product made rom the tree. On the reverse side is an animal that nests or feeds (bark, berries, fruit, leaves) on the tree. It was a fun project, but required a lot of research. We found ourselves asking questions like:
  A. What tree did this wood come from?
  B. What animals are associated with the tree or its environs?
  C. what products are made from the tree?"

  Inquire

• Cynthia Toops & Dan Adams

  Hero

  2023
  Pendant. Polymer clay micromosaic by Cynthia Toops, Sterling silver work by Chuck Domitrovich, Wood Cross and sterling silver tree by Dan Adams.
  4" h x 2 3/8" w x 1/4" d

  2,580. USD

  When I got the bezel from Chuck Domitrovich, I immediately thought of a hero or guardian figure of the woods. The obvious decision was the woodland firefighter. Firefighter stations sport different badges - all Maltese crosses but with different emblems in the center. I chose woodland firefighting tools: spade and axe.
  The orange represents fire and the grey is for smoke. We used purple heartwood for the Maltese cross to symbolize heroism.

  Inquire

• Cynthia Toops & Dan Adams

  Split Personality

  2023
  Pendant. Polymer clay micromosaics by Cynthia Toops, Wood carving and sterling silver metal work by Dan Adams.
  1 3/4" h x 1 1/8" w x 5/8" d

  1,280. USD

  "In this piece, we started with a wood face that Dan carved. I had him cut it into two halves so I could use it on both sides, creating two different faces with a wood element in each."

  Inquire

• Cynthia Toops & Dan Adams

  Split Personality

  2023
  Pendant. Polymer clay micromosaics by Cynthia Toops, Wood carving and sterling silver metal work by Dan Adams.
  1 3/4" h x 1 1/8" w x 5/8" d

  1,280. USD

  "In this piece, we started with a wood face that Dan carved. I had him cut it into two halves so I could use it on both sides, creating two different faces with a wood element in each."

  Inquire

• Cynthia Toops & Dan Adams

  Hart|Heart

  2023
  Brooch/pendant. Polymer clay micromosaic by Cynthia Toops, sterling silver metal work by Dana Cassara, Carved maple by Dan Adams.
  3" h x 1 1/2" w x 1/8" d

  1,220. USD

  " It was not obvious when I received the pendant/brooch from Dana Cassara how we could incorporate the wood into the small space. The decision to create a wooden "heart' transformed the elk into a hart (a mature male red deer)."

  Inquire

• Cynthia Toops & Dan Adams

  Luna

  2023
  Pendant. Polymer clay micromosaics by Cynthia Toops, Carved maple and Sterling silver and brass work by Dan Adams.
  2 3/8" h x 2 3/4" w x 1/4" d

  1,570. USD

  "Dan carved the wood - a partial face and created the silver & brass bezel. My micromosaic of the other half of the face was inspired by Dan's wood carving & finishing, and the wood carvings of the indigenous peoples of the northwest. "

  Inquire

• Cynthia Toops & Dan Adams

  Furrball

  2023
  Brooch. Polymer clay micromosaics by Cynthia Toops. Sterling silver metalwork by Juan Reyes.
  1 5/8" h x 2" w x 1/8" d

  760. USD

  "I imagined finding a bunny instead of a squash in the vegetable garden. The rabbit is pretending to be innocent."

  Inquire

• Cynthia Toops & Dan Adams

  Pileated Woodpecker

  2023
  Pendant. Polymer clay micromosaic by Cynthia Toops, sterling silver metalwork by Dana Cassara, Olive wood by Dan Adams.
  2 3/4" h x 3/4" w x 1/8" d

  1,000. USD

  "I wanted to do a Pileated Woodpecker after watching a PBS documentary of woodpeckers. This bezel by Dana Cassara was the perfect shape for it. I love the wood texture on the back of the pendant."

  Inquire

• Cynthia Toops & Dan Adams

  Shelter

  2023
  Pendant. Polymer clay micromosaic by Cynthia Toops, sterling silver metalwork by Juan Reyes, and wood by Dan Adams.
  4 5/8" h x 2 3/8" w x 1/4" d

  1,914. USD

  "When I received the tree-shaped bezel from Juan Reyes, I was stumped (pun intended). I did not want to ask Dan to make wood for the tree trunk. The solution was using wood for the branches instead."

  Inquire

• Cynthia Toops & Dan Adams

  Dogwood

  2023
  Pendant. Polymer clay micromosaic by Cynthia Toops. Sterling silver metalwork and sapphires by Virginia Causey, Cut and carved olive wood by Dan Adams.
  3 3/4" h x 1 3/8" w x 1/8" d

  2,034. USD

  "The dogwood flower and leaves created by Virginia Causey inspired me to read about the tree. I chose the house finch because i loved how its soft pink coloring goes with the red berries that it feeds on."

  Inquire

• Cynthia Toops & Dan Adams

  Spirit

  2023
  Brooch. Polymer clay micromosaic by Cynthia Toops, silver work by Nancy Bonnema, plywood elements by Dan Adams. Hand fabricated.
  3" h x 2 1/2" w x 1/8" d

  1,800. USD

  "Spirit was created to honor our gardening friends. They spend weekends, day in, day out, tending to their plots, watering, weeding, pruning, planting flowers, seeds and (hopefully) picking fruits, vegetables and sharing the harvest."

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• Cynthia Toops & Dan Adams

  The Gathering

  2023
  Pendant. Polymer clay micromosaic by Cynthia Toops, Sterling silver and brass metalwork and carved maple by Dan Adams.
  2 1/2" h x 2 1/4" w x 1/4" d

  1,670. USD

  "For The Gathering, Dan carved the wood and did the metalwork first and I made the mosaic in response to his "bird". I imagined a gathering of elders from different species, discussing and working together to solve problems in the community."

  Inquire

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WOOD

October 14 – November 11, 2023

For our exhibition at Mobilia Gallery, Dan and I decided to work on a wood themed show. Some of the pieces were based on trees or wood, while others included a wood element as part of the design. I worked on the micromosaics in all the pieces, while Dan carved and inlaid most of the wood in addition to the metal work on quite a few of the other pieces.

We also invited five metalsmith friends to create bezels for the show. They are Nancy Bonnema, Chuck Domitrovich, Dana Cassara, Juan Reyes and Virginia Causey. Photography by Doug Yaple.

Click here to view the exhibition catalogue.

CYNTHIA TOOPS & DAN ADAMS

Cynthia Toops and Dan Adams have been collaborating since 1986, inspired by The History of Beads by Lois Dubin.  In 1990, after attending glass classes at Pratt Center in Seattle, Adams  specialized in fabricating glass beads while Toops focused on the potential of Polymer Clay.

Cynthia Toops received her BA in Biology from Drake University, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 1979. She studied Printmaking at the University of Washington in Seattle, graduating with a BFA in 1983. Throughout her career, Toops has experimented with many different techniques in polymer clay, from inlay and onlay to micromosaics. The versatility of the material allows Toops to borrow from ancient techniques resulting in works that combine both the modern and traditional.

Dan Adams works full time in a hospital laboratory and creates his wonderful glass beads at night and on weekends. He has recently started metalworking and wood carving. Having received his BA in Anthropology in 1988 from the University of Washington in Seattle, Adams is intrigued with the history of glass and the use of beads throughout many of the world’s cultures. He was orginally inspired by Chinese Warring States beads but since he has incorporated tribal pattern, contemporary design, and natural history into his beads.

The artists’ work can be found in various public collections including: Kobe Lampwork Glass Museum, Japan; Mingei International Museum, CA; Museum of Arts and Design, NY; Museum of Contemporary Craft, OR; Museum of Fine Arts Boston, MA; Newark Museum of Art, NJ; Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA; Racine Art Museum, WI; and Tacoma Art Museum, WA.