I gotta tell you- this past January |
 | I worked on my daily art when it slowed down a bit, and in the time I was there I was able to almost complete my piece. I knew I would have more time to work on it, so I chose a more intricate statement necklace I picked up from Charming Charlie a while back. I love this piece because it is easy to dress up or down (well...MY version of dressing down, I guess). I have even layered it over an aqua necklace to add colors so it would match perfectly with this tropical maxi dress I have! |
Maybe two weeks ago Jess asked me if I wanted to attend the VIP Preview night for Art Palm Beach. (ummmm, yeah- duhhhhh)
Then she asked if I wanted to make a recycled dress or two and have some gals walking around in 'em.
An eyebrow raised...'maybe.' (interest peaked)
THEN she said something 'or maybe some of your recycled jewelry pieces'...and I may have fainted, I'm not sure I was so excited...but anyhow- I did it. I made four new pieces for the opening, and I'm sure glad I did!!
Then she asked if I wanted to make a recycled dress or two and have some gals walking around in 'em.
An eyebrow raised...'maybe.' (interest peaked)
THEN she said something 'or maybe some of your recycled jewelry pieces'...and I may have fainted, I'm not sure I was so excited...but anyhow- I did it. I made four new pieces for the opening, and I'm sure glad I did!!
Here are the finished necklaces;
Here we are! The dress code? Just a cute LBD so that the jewelry would 'pop'...and it did!
I approached these pieces differently than my last DIY jam (that GIGANTIC colored pencil necklace!) For these I wanted the pieces to be a bit more understated, but still fun. I have a 'sparkle graveyard' where all my broken costume pieces go, along with ones I am 'retiring'...and I used that as a base- gotta love upcycling! Then a little RECYCLED artin'...I selected pages from the stacks of old Art Hives in my classroom. For Angela's piece I pulled some pages that featured fellow contributor Jon Hunt's watercolor work to make a creepy-cool statement necklace! (and ya gotta make the boss ladies look good- they sign the checks!)
Alejandra's necklace took me the longest...I had to measure, cut...and re-cut the strips to cover each metal 'roll' them patiently wait for the pieces to dry...the ends kept wanting to come up some paperclips became my best friend.
Amanda's was another 'cut and measure' deal...took me a few tries but I finally got the shapes to fit. This is actually the first issue of Art Hive- so PINK and fab!
For all intents and purposes, this piece is toddler-proof...at least for the night. Jess loved the eyeballs on this piece- they are actually from one of my own artworks that was printed in one of the magazines! I am going to be collaging the BACK of each of these discs 'cause they kept flipping...kinda made me wanna flip out. But Jess, one of the owners and my good friend, still loved it so that's all that matters!
Here are some pics from the VIP Preview Night!
I did something a little different for this batch of angels...I posted some pics in my IG feed- but I posted the hints on how to find'em in my story! Not sure how well it worked, but it was kinda fun!
#AngelDropART in downtown Lake Worth (L) and Boynton Beach (R)
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Mackie was ready for us to come HOME! (to feed him, of course!)
Gotta love a man that supports the ARTS!!
Scenes from Palm Beach Modern and Contemporary Art Fair with my Art Hive Boss Ladies (and friends!)
Just a few peeks of my some of my favorite pieces...
gotta go back when it's not so hectic and look again :)
...we had a chance to meet and take a photo from Jason Newsted. You probably know him from Metallica...but he's a really amazing artist too, and his work is so vibrant!
Thanks again for the invite,
Jess and Angela!!
...thanks so much to my art friend Joyce over at CGMS for hosting my recycled jewelry class...and for our super-fun planning session! Love you!
Local folks- I am doing a DIY jewelry makin' event tomorrow at CGMS!! Details below;
My sweet artist friend and gallerist Joyce over at Clay Glass Metal Stone Gallery asked me if I would like to teach a class at the gallery. Any time Joyce asks me to do something my default is always yes, 'cause I've learned that Joyce always has great ideas! (Plus I just adore her!) So I agreed. Only one problem...WHAT to TEACH? (gulp)
After thinking about it, I decided to go with a recycled statement necklace. Anyone that knows me knows that I LOVE JEWELRY! (sorry to yell it, but c'mon, I love it!) New jewelry, vintage jewelry, sparkly jewelry, gold jewelry, silver jewelry, beaded jewelry, broken jewelry...doesn't matter to me, I love it all. Except expensive, 'fancy' jewelry...I can appreciate it but it's just not my jam.
In the past few years I have really gotten in to making my own pieces out of broken jewelry and 'trash'. I think that the first piece I made was the statement necklace that I wore for the Fashion ARTillery event at the Armory Art Center back in February of 2014. I didn't set out to create this piece, it was kinda an aferthought. I have worked so hard on my bridal gown made from Art Hive Magazines that I had not thought about what I would wear. I always have a ton of LBDs on hand...and I had some leftover flower shapes cut from the magazine so I added them to a existing multi-strand piece I had on hand...and presto- I had my own custom statement piece!
After thinking about it, I decided to go with a recycled statement necklace. Anyone that knows me knows that I LOVE JEWELRY! (sorry to yell it, but c'mon, I love it!) New jewelry, vintage jewelry, sparkly jewelry, gold jewelry, silver jewelry, beaded jewelry, broken jewelry...doesn't matter to me, I love it all. Except expensive, 'fancy' jewelry...I can appreciate it but it's just not my jam.
In the past few years I have really gotten in to making my own pieces out of broken jewelry and 'trash'. I think that the first piece I made was the statement necklace that I wore for the Fashion ARTillery event at the Armory Art Center back in February of 2014. I didn't set out to create this piece, it was kinda an aferthought. I have worked so hard on my bridal gown made from Art Hive Magazines that I had not thought about what I would wear. I always have a ton of LBDs on hand...and I had some leftover flower shapes cut from the magazine so I added them to a existing multi-strand piece I had on hand...and presto- I had my own custom statement piece!
And just like that...my love for recycled jewelry and fashion was born. Since that runway event I have had a piece walk the red carpet at a film festival, be on display in various venues (including Art Palm Beach!) ...I have made more statement necklaces to wear to events, and probably one of my favorite outcomes from this whole thing is the chance to work with middle school and high school age students over the past few years at the Armory Art Center- where it all began!
For more about my recycled jewelry journey, click here!
Can't get enough of the sparkly stuff? Like trashion? Check out my jewelry Instagram;
@miss_matchy_matchy
I mentioned in a previous post about my art show in NC that I wanted to take a little bit more time and write more about one of the visitors. Well, here goes.
...in case ya missed it, this was my show at the Homewood Suites in Pinehurst :)
The first visitor to my show in Pinehurst was someone I had never met. I greeted her at the door, racking my brain to try and remember her because I was at a loss. She introduced herself. Her name was Shelly, I had never met her. Shelly is an art teacher at Forest Hills Middle School in Wilson and she had traveled over two and a half hours to come to my show. And we had never met.
But we had a link- my friend from college, Kelly Land. Kelly and I put on our senior show together in the Jenkins Fine Art Center at East Carolina University. (side note, ever since my freshman year at ECU I had wanted to show in that gallery!) Somehow Kelly had told her about me and my artwork...and she stumbled upon my #AngelDropART endeavor...and became inspired to do something similar with her own middle school art students.
...just a few pics of my 'angel drops' from over the years...sometimes I leave them for folks to find, sometimes I hand them out...'dropped' them in NC, SC, FL, DE, LA, TX, CA and NY just to name a few places!
So, long story short- she introduced my work to her students and had them create almost 100 pieces of art and 'drop' them all over her county for folks to find. As if that isn't amazing enough- they even included a small paper on the back to explain what they were up to...and it mentioned me! All the way in Eastern North Carolina, unbeknownst to me...I was able to inspire others.
After meeting Shelly and hearing the story of how she came to be at my art show and how her students were now inspiring others, I could have packed up my show right then, turned off all the lights and called it a successful night.
But I didn't- so everything else was just icing on the cake! But man, what a GREAT night!
#BUCKCHEERART
Click here to view the article in the Wilson County Times!
...thanks to my Gamma Sigma Sigma sister, Christy for letting me know about the article!
...just some of the fantastic art Shelly's kids have been leaving all over Wilson, NC!
So cool to get a shout out! Wooo!
Shelly, fellow teaching artist and new friend.
...and she brought me this inspiring work! I don't know what I love more, the colorful light bulb and quote on the front or that cool note on the back!
I really have to be honest- I was at a bit of a low point in December. We lost one of our cats just a few days before I came home for the break, my little Scooter...had him for fourteen years. Then there is just the holiday blues...and I don't know, I had honestly just been a bit of funk. I was down on myself for taking so long to finish some side projects- including a BIG batch of Wonder Woman-inspired angels...and I was kinda down because I felt like I had not made as many angels this year- and I haven't. So this was just the spark to light my inspiration and help me to end 2017 on a positive note, and for that I am grateful.
Thank you again, Shelly for making that long drive to come to my show, and to your son for humoring you, and your husband for going along with the idea if it meant some high end sushi for him! And thank you so much to the students at Forest Hills Middle School in Wilson, NC for confirming for me that I am on the right path with my art, and my angels.
#WCSistheBEST
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Artist and Art Teacher
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