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Building a design collection – Striking a balance of old and new!

2018 marks my 15^th year of designing wearable art in sea glass.  It all started with hair accessories and my desire to revive the art of hair jewelry.  But I quickly learned that this would simply not be enough.  In fact, it was just the tip of the iceberg.

Reflecting on the challenges of building a collection of designs, I have learned the importance of striking a balance between the core of the collection and the need to meet the demands of returning and new clients.  I recently had a conversation with a patron who expressed her frustration with finding jewelry that she loved and then returning to find that the artist completely changed creative direction.   On the other hand, a large segment of regular customers expect to see at least one new thing each time they show up at your studio.  I do try to listen to my customers and as such, have built a robust collection that speaks to both groups.

 

By way of example, barrettes, brooches, and earrings are essential parts of the collection.  New items include a wide variety of pendants and bracelets.  Niche items include eye glass holders, convertible pin-pendants, button covers, and sweater guards.  In the past year, I have introduced “Bottleneck Beauty” pendants that are a “limited edition” simply because of the rarity of the old bottlenecks.  I have also introduced a variety of new bracelets to appeal to a more contemporary palate.  Using leather cuffs as the base, I am finding this look to attract a more hip crowd to sea glass which is often considered “traditional.” I have also introduced a very “light” wire bracelet that is easy to wear and very flexible.  This seems to appeal to a more mature customer due to its easy-to-wear feature.  The button covers were the idea of a male visitor to my studio and now I call this the unisex collection!

Whether its new items, designs, colors, materials, or just the way the work is presented, it is important to strike a balance between your look (or brand) and the ever evolving expectations of art lovers.  I am imminently grateful to my base of clientele who have helped me evolve and grow the collection for the past 15 years.  Please stop in any time by appointment or at the upcoming 35th Annual Cape Ann Artisan Tour the weekend of October 6-8 10AM-5PM.   View samples of the collection at Steamline Strength Pilates Studio at 119 Main Street in Gloucester Ma.

Creativity and Cultural Icons| Enriching my work through travel and conversation

Learning about cultures through travel and conversation with local people has been a mainstay of my personal passions since I was old enough to jump on an airplane.  I’ve dipped my toes into nearly every continent and had long term tour of duty in China, Hong Kong, and the Asia-Pacific.  Of late, I have spent more time digging deeply into southern Europe where art as we know it has dominated the world scene since ancient times.   Nothing more ancient than Greece, our most recent destination.

This  journey into the center of the Peloponnese offered me a chance to meet many local artists and in particular, those taking forward the long tradition of jewelry making.  (Note the Jewelry Museum in Athens is a wonderful place to visit).  Private collections, such as that at the Benaki Museum showcase jewelry from the 4^th to 15^th centuries.  Most looks like it could be worn today.   Many of the Hellenic designs have been carried forward by jewelers of today and anyone could pick them out as typical “Greek Designs.”

What I found most interesting, however, was the more contemporary interpretations of ancient symbols and cultural icons.  On one extreme, in Napflio, I learned about the art-form of “worry beads” which are having a renaissance and now have their own dedicated museum.  The formal name is Komboloi, not for religious use as in many cultures.  It is used for an aid in tranquility and meditation.  Artistically speaking, they are taking new forms that can be “worn” every day and used when needed.  On the higher end, I enjoyed the workstyle of Maria Kaprili whose work has evolved from the symbols and amulets such as those that ward off the evil eye, the Matiasma (Greek) and Cornicello (Italian).  The correlation is subtle and the work elegant!  I was lucky enough to take home the work of Victoria Andrahta which was more organic and builds on the long tradition of olive “leaves” in varying degrees of gold plate.    I was awed by the Eleni Marneri Gallery show of (click for YouTube Video)  30 years of contemporary jewelry. Many pieces were on the edge of visual and wearable, but highly imaginative in their use of materials and execution.

So what does all this mean in the context of my creative juices? Already my work in highly influenced by Asian symbols – butterflies and fans and the occasional “fish” dance around my barrette and brooch collection.  The Winter White collection was inspired by many snow-covered days here and in my hometown of Buffalo.  But what of our local and national cultural symbols?  We all have our own list and this is simply a reminder to keep that list alive.  I am playing with some ideas that you can see in the upcoming Spring Cape Ann Artisans tour and brought out in the latest collection of Bottleneck Beauties. I hope that we can all find ways to keep our traditions and culture alive through modern interpretations of icons that speak across generations. And yes, while I was there, I did look for sea glass on the coast of Greece – but the pickins’ were slim!

 

Wearable Art Celebration Kick-off & Sea Glass Combinations Re-imagined for a Fall Collection

The years that I have chaired the biennial Celebrate Wearable Art runway show are the most challenging to balance time creating my own work vs. creating a highly evocative and colorful event to showcase the creative talents of the seARTS Wearable Art Group and many others who will be joining us.  The charter for this event has continued to evolve and in addition to putting on a spectacular show, we are also pursuing the all-important mission to educate people about “wearable art.”  In a recent video-podcast I was asked, “how does it feel to own and wear a piece of wearable art?”    It gave me a wonderful opportunity to really think about this and my response is – “It makes you feel special, beautiful, and proud – just like your favorite painting hanging in your home.  Most importantly, you feel connected to the artist in a most intimate way.”  This Boston Globe article hit the nail on the head!   And if you want to hear even more about wearable art, tune into the recent podcast I did with the CWA curator, Martha Sutyak.

But like every other creative person, the pressure of preparing for a big event forces one into new directions.  One of the biggest challenges has been finding ways to appeal to new audiences with both work and outreach.  Also, making sure that the collection has something for “almost” everyone.  So this year the emphasis will be on a wider range of bracelets which have been well received over the past few years.  Taking the basic design of the stainless steel and silver metal cuffs, the new designs are going to appear on leather, brass, and wired bracelets of varying widths.    The leather is colorful and light, easy to wear and contemporary.   It provides a nice complement to fabrics and feels great to wear.  It also helps sea glass find its way into every-day jewelry that can be worn year round.   Over the years I have made an immense effort to fight the stigma that sea glass could only be worn in the summer and with summer clothes.

I will also evolve the “bottleneck beauty” collection, add more earring styles and of course, have a robust collection of hair accessories for all types of hair as the staple of the collection.  So looking forward to welcome everyone to Celebrate Wearable Art on October 1 and our Cape Ann Artisans Fall Tour on October 7-9.

Ten years of Art “On the Rocks” Celebration with seARTS, Bass Rocks Golf Club, and the PEM

Swoosh! Just like a paint brush across the canvass, ten years has quickly passed since House Committee Chair, Tom Lawler approved the partnership between Bass Rocks Golf Club and seARTS to put art on the walls annually for the benefit of artists, the golf club, and the community – opening up this lovely space once a year for the public to enjoy a “meet the artists reception” overlooking the back shore of Gloucester, MA..  Thanks to the commitment and leadership of Peter Hood, General Manager, the program has been fully embraced the members and artists.

On June 29^th, the current group of 27 artists were celebrated.   The evening was hosted by all the seARTS Board and new VP Chuck Hayback who took over the reins of “Art Loan” just two seasons ago from me after having founded this when the new clubhouse opened in 2007! Some of the historical highlights of the program included the “quick start” in 2007 where, with just two weeks to pull it all together, with the help of curator Mary Beth Brainbridge, she drew on previous seARTS shows at Cruiseport and Cape Ann TV.   Former board member and artist Christy Park, who was in attendance last night, actually hung the show in 2007.   Artist Mary Forte Hayes, also in attendance, reunited with her high school “French language” student Geoffrey Bayliss at the 2009 show where they both had work.  David Stotzer, one of the judges this year, was part of the original show in 2007!   Just a few among the great moments of comradery generated by this event.

Over the years, seARTS has drawn from many groups to provide curatorial/jury oversight and arts education.   It was only too appropriate that we would celebrate ten years with the Curator of the Present Tense, Trevor Smith, from the Peabody-Essex Museum.   Trevor was tapped to talk about collecting art and he did so with passion, humor, and charming story-telling.   He left us with these pearls of wisdom:

1. Start by collecting “anything” but just get started!
2. Don’t be afraid to make a mistake, enjoy the passion of the journey, and remember you spend more on car payments than art!
3. You can go wrong taking your pleasures seriously and sometimes you can even make money doing so
4. Get to know your TRIBE! That would be hang out at events like the reception and talk last night.
5. If you see a piece of art that is bothering you and you can’t get it out of your mind, you probably need to buy it even if you don’t like it. It will help seed the learning process and make you work harder at collecting.

Trevor responded to several questions with refreshing perspective.  He challenged us to grasp how the world of Google and search has changed the art journey on several levels – learning about art and distinguishing “art” in new forms.  He also believes the “what is art” question will only get harder to answer as will the actual “whereabouts” of art.

A hearty congratulations to this year’s awardees:

First Prize: Gary Davis for “Golden Schooner.”

Second Prize: Kirk Larsen for “Summer Breeze.”

Third Prize: Matt Cegelis for “Blue Bow”

Viewers’ Choice Award: Stephen LaPierre for “Hunts Lane (Key West)”

Honorable Mentions:

Larry Grob for “Marsh House Morning, Essex”

Abby Lammers for “Governors Park Study”

Special thanks and recognition for all the contributors to this program over the years!

• Tom Lawler and Peter Hood, Bass Rocks Golf Club
• Leonie Bradley, Director of Art and Creative Initiatives at HUBweek
• Maggie Cavallo, Visiting Lecturer at Massachusetts College of Art and Design
• Judith Curtis, Writer and Researcher of art-related themes
• Artist Joy Dai Buell (BTW she’s coming to the reception)
• Carol Seitchik, Director at Art Focus
• Matthew Swift, Owner/Director, Trident Gallery
• Belinda Recio, True North Gallery
• Alison Rowell, Central Street Gallery,
• Roger Armstrong, State of the Art Galleries