Robert K. Liu

4: | rt, like life, can be defined by pivotalevents. In the late 1980s, Kris Eberharddiscovered acrylic interference colors.

As with the scales of butterflies, this type of paint hasno true pigment in it, but through optical interferenceproduces iridescent colors. An elusive or effervescentcolor, also seen in weathered glass, it changes with theviewer's angle. Her experiments showed that a flat canvascould not yield such colors, but a curved, dimensionalsurface would "exploit the shining, shifting quality ofthe paint," Eberhard states. "At some point, I brushed astroke of the paint over a scrap of leather from some pastproject. The fine grain of the leather, combined with thebrilliance of the paint, produced a rich scintillatingsurface." Thus the foundations were laid for herilluminated leather jewelry of butterflies, tropical fishesand plant leaves, which so beautifully evoke theirnatural essence.

However, serendipity in art is not achieved easily;new technology sprouted so vigorously only because ofthe fertile base provided by Eberhard's background.Several generations of amateur naturalists in her familyhelped shape her focus on nature. A native of Utah andfrom a Mormon pioneer family (although she andher rebel father left the Church), Eberhard went to theUniversity of Utah, where she underwent vigorousand disciplined training in figurative anatomy and lifedrawing. Life drawing in the nude caused tensionbetween the University and the community-the malemodels were required to wear G-strings and the femalemodels had to keep their knees together. After receivinga Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, she later got a teachingcredential and taught middle school art. Then shemoved to New Mexico and taught art, cooking andsewing for adolescents in a psychiatric hospital. Herclasses were always in occupational craft studios, whereshe was able to watch men tooling leather. In the early1970s, she learned leather carving. At that time, NewMexico was full of countercultural events and aninteresting place to live but difficult economically;eventually Eberhard moved to Prescott, Arizona.

In the mountains of north central Arizona and someninety miles fiom Phoenix, this picturesque town hasgrown quickly, drawing many retirees from other states(many of whom have had to work again, since the stockmarket crash). Prescott has many artists but it is not ascompetitive as her former state for pickup jobs. Sheworks each day part-time at Bead It, a well-knownbead store and its furnishings gallery on historicWhiskey Row in the center of town. For many in the

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Above, clockwise from top: LEATHER BUTTERFLY AND MOTH BROOCHES, starting with the Monarch (Donous plexlppus,12.5 centimeters wingspan), Tiger Swallowtail (Pterourus gloucus, 11.5 centimeters wingspan), the Madagascar Sunset Moth(Chrysirlda madagascoriensis, 12.6 centimeters wingspan), the Blue Morpho Butterfly (Morpho meneftus, 11,5 centimeterswingspan) and a South American Swallowtail (Marpesia lole, 13.5 centimeters wingspan). The wings are assembled first, withthe more compact ones as a single, folded piece.Those with long tails are two pieces. They are usually reinforced with stripsof leather, to give the wings more dimensionality. The body, of Polar fleece, is attached on top: the color pafferns afe appliedwith pigment pens. Eyes are formed by knotting leather cording: the brass wire for the antenna is tied into the leather of theeyes, resulting in a strong construction. Most of lhese brooches are made slightly larger than life-size.

Opposite page: LEATHER FERN NECKLACE AND MADAGASCAR MOTH, with the former on wire-wrapped leather, so thatthe lariat type necklace will hold its shape.This moth is active in the day and does not have the usual feathery antenna ofmoths.The combination of the lyrical fern necklace and moth brooch Is both visually stunning and aesthetically pleasing.Necklace is In the collection of Stephonle Morris, Photographs by Robert K. LiutOrnamenf.t

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visual arts community, the bead store serves almost as ameeting place.

Although Eberhard regards herself as highiy creative, sherealizes that nature is so much more creative than what shecan conjure. All she has to do is reproduce nature-of course,this is a simplification, as her art is no mere copy of animalsand plants, but the rendition of them, more a challenge toevoke their essential selves. Her art training both honed herobservational skills and gave her the fundamentals to marrythis new paint to her techniques.

She works with leather that is bark- or oak-tanned, usingspecifically lining leather, usually from sheep (skiver),sometimes pigs or from cattle. Such leather dries hard andstiff; and when worked wet, it will retain shape. Leather fiomdifferent parts of the animal's body does not react in the sameway; for instance, hide from near the spine is more resistant toshaping. Most garment leather, which is chrome-tanned, willnot retain shape. The veins of the butterflies and leaves aredone with a woodburner, worked only from the front. Shelearned to use the woodburner when teaching woodshop atyouth centers. When the leather is burned, it shortens,resulting in the smooth front of the leather becoming convex,while the back is concave. Eberhard starts by cutting the

leather, then burning in the lines, after which it is cut out toshape. This leather is soaked in hot water, let dry to leather-hard (like in working clay). The previously made lines are notaffected by soaking. The burnt part stays low, while the leatheritself puffs out, resulting in more surface articulation. Shemanipulates the slightly damp leather with her fingers, whichstretch and pull the leather to the desired form. The shapedleather is propped for drying. When dry, it is painted withbrushes, not airbrushed. She achieves her subtlety by paintingthe same surface ten to twelve times with different colors orglazes of the water-soluble acrylic paint. She sometimes addsstrips of leather to the back for reinforcement. Insects donot attack her leather jewelry as there is always a residue offormaldehyde from the curing process. Her leather techniquestook ten years of exploration to develop.

While Eberhard makes leather jewelry in the form offish and plants, butterflies and moths are a prominent partof her work, done as pendants, brooches and earrings. Sheconsciously does not make flowers, because so many otherschoose-this subject. Over the years she has accumulateda library of field guides and coffee table books on theseinsects. For any one species that she works with, she willcross reference four to five books. She reads her butterfly

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POWDER-BLUE SURGEON FISHAND COPPER-BANDED BUTTERFLYFISH BROOCHES. 8.9 centimeterslong each and fully formed oneach side. These depict tropical

marine reef fishes.

books before she goes to sleep; Eberhard reveals that thisis part of her daily "travel" to exotic locales around theworld while researching imagery for her illuminated leatherjewelry-like a form of aesthetic armchair travel.

Currently, she is working on an order of dozens ofpieces for the Desert Garden outside Phoenix, where they havea butterfly pavilion each year. The first time she was in such abutterfly enclosure was in 1995, in conjunction with theexhibit, Beauty and Biology. Butterflies and Moths in Art andScience, when a butterfly pin and a painting of hers wereincluded in this show at the Bell Museum of Natural History,on the campus of the University of Minnesota. Besidesexhibitions like this and at the Los Angeles Zoo, Eberhard hadsold her art through the American Craft Council Minneapolisvenue, various juried shows in New Mexico, the Celebrationof Crafts Women in San Francisco, and other craft shows. Butafter hurting her back and being unable to work for sixmonths, she now only sells wholesale to gift and leather shopsand small galleries on both coasts. She avoids the shops ofzoos or natural history museums, since these markets preferinexpensive imports.

Her most interesting commission occurred about threeyears ago, over a two-year span, when a Florida psychotherapist

bought a pair of Eberhard's earrings in Oregon and asked thestore owner if she could have Eberhard's telephone number.As a consequence, before each of the therapist's trips, she wascontacted by the secretary in advance of when the woman andher husband planned to travel to some locale in the world,in connection with the couple's humanitarian relief work.Each of the ten commissioned sets of butterflies and mothsrepresented a different geographic location and were varied inshape and color. They consisted of brooches with matchingearrings, with the brooch being worn on a neck ring. She wasnot adverse to the attention that such striking jewelry drew,wherever she was on her travels. In this instance, Eberhard'screations were able to travel where she only could through herbooks and imagination.

Kris Eberhard works to raise people's consciousnessthrough her jewelry, because so many are not aware of theirsurroundings. Because her jewelry consists of portraitures ofthe natural world, she hopes to have those who encounter it tothink of the consequences on the environment. When sheexhibited years ago in Minneapolis, a woman commented thatshe does honor to the animals and plants she portrays. Thatpraise and the evocative beauty of her jewelry honor all whocare about our planet and its endangered inhabitants. ;,

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COPYRIGHT INFORMATION

TITLE: Kris Eberhard: Illuminated Leather JewelerSOURCE: Ornament 27 no3 Spr 2004

WN: 0410801313005

The magazine publisher is the copyright holder of this article and itis reproduced with permission. Further reproduction of this article inviolation of the copyright is prohibited.

Copyright 1982-2004 The H.W. Wilson Company. All rights reserved.