Ivy, a jewelry artist whose
diverse pieces have been
featured in various outdoor
art festivals over many sum-
mers.
A metalsmith who still has
clients, Solomon was trained
at the Western Iowa Tech
Community College.
“My wife developed a
complicated and unique
jewelry technique,” he said.
“I went to the shows with
her and started casting some
of the sterling silver pieces.
I then started doing her
photography, which is how
I wound up doing what I’m
doing now.”
Solomon, who had his
bar mitzvah at the former
Congregation B’nai David in
Southfield, was accepted into
five earlier shows this year,
and he has three more shows
to go before the end of the
year.
“Artistry brings joy to my
life,” said Solomon, who
grew up in Southfield and
lived in California during
the 1970s. “It’s a compulsion to do it,
and there’s variety in doing it. I love to
make things, and I love to fix things.”
BEAUTIFUL GLASSWARE
Rebecca Silverman, a glassmaker who
specializes in actual glassware, will
be among the 100 artists and 30 local
authors at the Funky Ferndale Art Fair.
This will be her first year at the event,
where she also will have other kinds of
containers and decorative pieces.
“This will be the first show I do with
only glass,” Silverman said. “I wire wrap
(making jewelry and objects with the
use of wire cording), but I haven’t been
doing that in the past couple of years.
“The first time I ever saw glass
blowing was on a fifth-grade trip to
Greenfield Village. I remember being
really fascinated. I didn’t have anoth-
er exposure to glass until I was about
19 and in college at Michigan State
University. I got a job in a local shop
where they sold glass, and I got so
interested.”
Silverman learned skills while work-
ing at Epiphany Studios in Pontiac,
where she continues to work. Although
she earned a degree in elementary edu-
cation, she only taught for a short time
and moved into glass.
“Artistry brings joy to my life,” said
Silverman, who also uses equipment at
House Cat Glass in Ferndale to form
her fair displays. “It’s my happiness.
It’s fun for me to work on glass. I go to
work excited because it’s an extreme
passion. I feel lucky that I have that.”
Silverman, who participates in pro-
grams at the Lamplighters Preschool
in Royal Oak sponsored by the Chabad
organization and attended by her son,
will make Jewish objects on special
orders. She has made kiddish cups and
ritual washing cups for holiday events.
“I have a line of starry night-inspired
glassware, which is blue like Van Gogh’s
painting of a starry night,” she said. “I
think that, at least in the glass commu-
nity, is something that I’m kind of rec-
ognized for.”
SEPTEMBER 15 • 2022 | 47
Details
Common Ground Birmingham
Street Art Fair
10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sept. 17
10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 18
Around Shain Park in Birmingham
theguild.org
Funky Ferndale Art Fair
3-7:30 p.m. Sept. 23
10 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Sept. 24
11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sept. 25
9 Mile and Woodward, Ferndale
funkyferndaleartfair.com
COURTESY OF STEVE SOLOMON
Selected works by
Steve Solomon