I’m always looking to improve my jewelry making skills, so when time and money allow, I head to jewelry school – either at Maryland Hall for the Arts or my local bead shop.  One of my favorite classes was a Byzantine Chainmaille class I took at a local bead shop.  Although it demanded a great deal of patience and concentration, I really enjoyed learning to weave chainmaille one jump ring at a time – it had a sort of Zen-like meditative quality for me. 

After producing a beautiful Byzantine weave bracelet which I still wear quite often, I took a Persian Chainmaille class.  Unlike the user-friendly Byzantine weave, I could not seem to fully wrap my mind – and my suddenly awkward fingers – around the more challenging Persian weave.  I decided then that as much as I admire the look and craft of chainmaille, I will leave it to the experts – people like Kimberly and Andrew, the husband and wife creative team of Chainmaille at MBOI.

Kimberly and Andrew make it look easy, but they’re constantly pushing the boundaries of their craft and creating innovative designs.  They even coil and cut solid wire to create their own rings, precisely sawing and cutting the wire for perfect closures.  Working with an assortment of metals, including silver, copper, bronze, stainless steel, and aluminum, they create their chainmaille designs using a variety of weave patterns, and often weave several metals together to create subtle or dramatic contrasts. 

 My all-time favorite Chainmaille by MBOI design is the Sterling Silver Full Persian Necklace with Black Rose.  This dramatic statement piece features a Full Persian 6 in 1 pattern with a black rose lampwork focal bead.  The black rose is framed by two sterling silver wire-wrapped leaves.  This is the kind of necklace that anyone would be proud to wear, but I don’t think I’d ever want to put it away in a jewelry box at the end of the day.  Instead, I would have to display it as the piece of art that it is.

 In addition to being accomplished chainmaille artists, Kimberly and Andrew are also the creative team behind Makin’ the Best of It, where they sell painted glassware and home decor.  As if that didn’t keep them busy enough, they run the Handmade Artists Forum and shop, where they nurture and support the work of other handmade artists.

Kimberly and Andrew embody the spirit and the passion of the handmade community.  That’s why purchasing a piece of chainmaille jewelry from Chainmaille by MBOI or a delicate set of painted wine glasses from Makin’ the Best of It is more than just a business transaction – it’s an investment in a one-of-a-kind work of art and an acknowledgement of the craftsmanship and integrity of handmade art as a whole.

I’d like to extend a big thanks to Kimberly and Andrew for being such an inspiration to the rest of us.