Precious

Bixou for you...

2009-05-01T14:04:00.001-07:00

Slacking off AGAIN... yes that's right. I've been too busy experiencing idle time to trouble with blogging. Actually I have been doing research. Lots of research on the latest fashion jewelry trends. Well okay, that does include a bit of shopping but really it was work...hard work! Malls are an exhausting time and money sucking experience but I admit that checking out whats going on the world of jewelry outside of my studio is a valuable, necessary and actually fun thing to do. I was enlightened and inspired to see that architect Frank Gehry (or someone working for him) is now designing simple elegant jewelry for Tiffany and Co. As a designer with architectural influences myself, I am very attracted to this collection. Go check it out next time you get that shopping urge or just click on the link..heh.
I'm also doing online research for interesting and new jewelry trends. Here's something REALLY fabulous that I just found and it's also made of rubber! Check out Batacuda, a fresh perspective on innovative wearables and table art from Paris. Je l'aime!
Spring is in full bloom here in Boston and I think I'm going to get my next batch of inspiration from getting outside for a walk. If I close my eyes it feels just like Paris..... ah oui!
(closes eyes.....accidentally kisses croissant).

The RIGHT coast!

2009-03-10T18:05:00.000-07:00

Greetings friends,
This is a quick update to let all of you know that my son and I made it safe and sound to our temporary home in Boston. I am still exhausted after driving 4,000 miles in 6 days. So much has yet to unfold but I feel confident in knowing I have made a good choice! Details of where (in or around Providence) we will be and when business as usual for Thea Izzi Jewelry Design will resume will be coming in the next month or sooner I hope.

For now, please visit my website to see the updated HOMEPAGE with features and focus on the new URBANA COLLECTION. Order directly from the site OR email or phone in your order, mention you read my blog and receive a 10% discount!

Now to find me a good cuppa Chowda....

What's that BUZZ??

2009-02-14T23:26:00.000-08:00

URBANA COLLECTION 2009

modern.industrial.chic.

::jewelry for a new economy::

Yay for shameless self promotion! And yay for incremental design and layout improvements of my blog (oooh, she found the color button). If you are not yet aware, I have been quietly working on COMPLETELY changing my direction as an artist and designer. Not only am I physically moving forward to the east coast I am moving fashion forward with a fabulous new collection of rubber, sterling silver and semi precious stone jewelry with magnetic enclosures. It's the most affordable jewelry that I've ever made that does not lose it's integrity of design and is so far, appealing to a more diverse demographic. That makes me really happy!

So let me tell you more about it....

My inspiration:

It all started back in 2005 when I was heading out to the Nevada desert to willingly eat dust for 10 days aong with 399,000 other interactive art and techno tribal music freaks at a festival called Burning Man ( for the fourth time). I did not want to risk losing any of my sterling and gold jewelry that I normally wore from my collection plus it was not quite dramatic enough for the scenery so I whipped up a set of black rubber o-ring jewelry. I'm an avid fan of the Ace Hardware store and often find inspiration for jewelry as I ramble slowly down the electrical and plumbing parts aisles. Rubber o -rings come on in several sizes so I instantly had a set of 3 rings, 3 bracelets and 1 pr of concentric circle earrings and attached them together with some sterling wire. Here I am soaking up the vibes of what was to be my last carefree year of existence! *sigh*.

It was a great success. My jewelry never came off or got lost, was super comfortable and complemented whatever fashion statement I wanted to make throughout the week which was mostly *urban gypsy* related. Don't ask me if it complemented "naked".... just get a life and don't ask me that m'kay? ;D

Fast forward a few years and the bag of Ace Hardware o- rings I had'nt used was STILL sitting on my bench, blending in to the background waiting to be given a function. I had always intended to design more with them but got massively side tracked with having a baby. Suddenly, with dwindling resources and about 20% capacity to produce and sell my work they way I had done before having a baby, the idea of using new, more affordable materials brought that little paper bag in to focus. It did not take long before the whole collection came together through my standard method of playing and experimenting with the material.

Linking together the smaller o rings produced an innovative look which became the Valentina and Chiarra collections. Adding semi precious stones nesting in cups of 22k gold bimetal to the o-ring RINGS tied in the design to my well known fine metals work and became the colorful Sorbet collection. Using a capped magnetic clasps on the Novios and Imani bracelets and necklaces also related to my Mesh and Magnet collection. All have the versatile choice of linking two bracelets together to make a choker. Of course whats great about the rubber version is that it also suits men!

In the process of designing and creating a whole line using the rubber, my inspiration drew from not only the urban tribal element of burning man culture and fashion but also, I realized, from the amazing urban landscape of my studio for the past eight years. Newly given it's original name still inscribed in the brick, *1000 Embarcadero West* is set in the heart of the very industrial Port of Oakland. Coincidentally, the rubber o-rings that I now use are from a distributor less than a block away!

Here's one of my favorite shots from the first Urbana photo shoots taken at the back of my building facing the train tracks and mountain of shipping containers. This is the magnetic clasped Novios Triple Bracelet made for both men and women and is priced at $95. Mention this blog and get it for only $75 through the end of February!

So that's the Urbana story! I am glad to be leaving this home of the last near decade with creative jewelry that it inspired, a stack of great memories and a new direction for the future.

I am starting the serious packing this week and production officially ends at the end of the day on Monday but please place an order ANY TIME as certain items and parts are stocked so that I can start shipping orders out in about 2-3 weeks. Order by emailing me now or visiting MY WEBSITE in about a week as purchasing options will be available there soon. You can also call the new studio phone number 415-694-9676.

Nighty night.......
Oh, am I going to pay for staying up so late this time!

Purging and Letting Go

2009-02-02T14:06:00.000-08:00

The Purge is on!

In order to move across country I am downsizing, getting rid of, recycling, giving away and selling a lot of my STUFF. The first big yard sale was a success thanks to some friends that helped and um, a few years of sales experience. It's so fun and easy selling things for under 3 dollars all day long! Knowing that I likely made more money selling my used cr*p than I might have at a grueling three day craft show selling my high end *art* (after expenses and cost of goods sold) was sobering but also kind of amusing.

I don't want to sound too sour...some craft shows brought me more $ than I could have imagined making in a weekend, at the time, but that was quite awhile ago. About 10 years ago in fact. I am curious as to how BMAC will be this coming weekend for those artists who were fortunate enough to be able to take the financial risk or who chose to do so despite economic warning signs, rising costs and their mounting debt. I wouldn't say that I'll "never" do a show again and I'm sure that for some artists it will be a decent year but for me, letting go of feeling that I "have" to do them is hugely liberating. Thanks, by the way, to those who have ordered the Sorbet rings from the new collection since my moving announcement and Urbana Collection feature this past week! Thanks to my friends who overall have been my BEST customers so far this year which I attribute to greater internet presence ( FB!) and increased effort on my part to reach out to LOCAL customers. Keep'm coming. Check out the website HERE.

Okay, back to letting go. Letting go of my plants was the hardest. Wedding shoes....whatever. That book about Soulmates..... I seriously hope it does more for the new owner than it did for me! Bolts of faded dusty fabrics and furry pillows.....may they be witness to yet another gathering of freaks in the desert - from someone else's camp. Letting go of my possessions is mostly a breeze but having to leave my plants behind, my most loyal, predictable and hearty companions who have seen so much beauty, joy and grief in their time (without ever an instance of judging) is unexpectedly difficult.

They have all gone to good homes thank goodness.*Sigh*. Take good care of my babies!!!!

Another bold step toward the next chapter of my life overall feels great. The letting go has left a palpable open space for new beginnings which I welcome with whole heart. I am finding myself more calm and centered in the midst of accelerating chaos than I have been in a few years. My tendency at times to dive in to the unknown armed only with a good dose of ignorance, a potent shot of blind faith, a wing and a prayer has set in fully. Woot! Not that I have no plan. I have a plan mom, yes I have a very nice, solid plan but even the best laid plans....... well , you know. Guess I'll have more answers after the next layer of "stuff" falls away. At least I will fall asleep tonight with the continuing strange feeling that everything will work out *just fine*.

Official signs of change:

-The studio phone has been changed to it's new mobile number: 415-694-9676
-I can see the back wall of my closet
-It is Feb 10 and my fingers are not sore and cracked and there is money in my back account!

"There is Life After Baltimore"

2009-01-26T21:59:00.000-08:00

A friend who opted out of exhibiting at the Baltimore ACC Craft Show last year was recently quoted as saying this and I have decided to go with that notion....considering I have taken the same path to opt out of expensive, financially risky, time consuming, physically exhausting and marginally rewarding (for the work that goes in to them) craft shows this winter season. Of course I am being sarcastic as well as truthful. The shows have been such a great way to build my business and connect with other artists. The social aspect alone can make it all feel worthwhile but this year, things are different and I am taking the opportunity to try a new road.

Possibly the fact that I never stopped working through my pregnancy and after the birth of my son, brought him with me to Baltimore when he was barely 3 months old and left him for a week when he was 14 months old to go the following year has contributed to this drying up of mental and physical resources and motivation. Nah....

The road appears bumpy and interrupted by large looming obstacles these days but I feel strangely confident that simply the act of changing my direction, not doing what I always have done, is opening up my world to much needed new opportunities for my life and business. I will miss my friends and all the great meals and that feeling that comes with presenting a stunning body of work among other amazing and high caliber artists yet I know my energy must be preserved for the BIG MOVE coming up soon. eek. My best wishes and props to all the jewelry folk attending this year's shows. Have a great time. Maybe I'll see you next year, maybe I won't...... stay tuned!

Artistic inspirations of the week: trains, cala lillies, children's books illustrated in watercolor, the song " The circle game" by Joni Mitchell, curry and ginger winter squash soup, fiery red headed women wearing wisdom like a haute couture gown.

Movin' Right Along.... dah dut da dt dt dt dah

2009-01-21T15:41:00.000-08:00

We're movin'!! I wrote it here first.

My precious little boy, myself and most of the contents of my studio and home are shipping FORWARD to New England around March 1. We'll be landing in Boston, MA on soft sheets and in good hands of family for a short rest before heading south to plant new roots in divine Providence, RI. Home of mobsters and lobsters, fashion jewelry, art students, brainy students, my alma mater, RISD, wicked good Thai food (better than the Bay Area, *REALLY*) and approximately 3 times the living and working space I have here for a lower price. I've got a beautiful one year old niece there that I'd like to get to know as well.

YES. I will dearly miss the beauty, culture and richness of the SF bay Area and YES, I'm sure there will be momentarily paralyzing thoughts of "what have I done!" but I know in the end the gains will win over the losses. Family, in a word, is the reason #1. When you have a child everything changes. An understatement, really.

What does this mean for TNI Design/ Thea Izzi Jewelry? A spacious home studio so that I can take advantage of more hours than I currently have in a separate space (less daycare for my son as well), a location well positioned for the best shows and direct contact with many of my best wholesale accounts. Basically that means that doors will close temporarily while we get settled but then business will resume as usual! All new contact information will be posted on the website accordingly and all website orders will be fulfilled although probably delayed.

Pray that I will be too busy to notice how cold it will be when I get there and that it will be spring by the time I look up. Yay for change!

Go team Thea....

2009-01-15T23:37:00.000-08:00

Welcome! This is my second official first blog. Let's hope I can keep up this one beyond one post. Sharing my thoughts about my work and my life to the public is downright frightening for me but I'll give it a try.
Here's a first go.... My inspiration of late had come from a totally unexpected source: Project Runway. I have never actually watched it on cable but was fortunate to find the whole first season at my local library a few months ago. I was completely hooked after the first few episodes.
Why? Originally, I applied to art schools to become a fashion designer. I was going to go to Parsons for a whole 2 weeks before I got the RISD acceptance letter. RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) is were I ended up. It was not a tough decision although I got in to every school I applied to.... one of my biggest achievements early in life! Unfortunately, after my first pattern making course I realized that I loved DRAWING fashion and not actually sewing or making clothes. Oops. Jewelry and metals, the department I switched to, was a perfect solution because it addressed fashion as well as sculpture and design. And (heh) metal and fire was far more interesting to me than chiffon.
Watching the show has not only rekindled my love for drawing but reminded me that my inspiration for design has a root in the world of fashion. The innovation of some of the designers on the show is motivating and seeing what amazing pieces they come up with sometimes at the very last minute is a reminder to me to keep making new work even when times are tough. Yeah, it reminds me of art school madness too.
My latest collection made from rubber, silver and magnets, is by coincidence, very fashion concious as well as innovative. It's inspired by urban landscape and industrial materials but also has a subtle tribal element to the design. It's the first work that actually appeals to the style and budget of my peers! That's a good feeling. Stay tuned for information about the new collection, URBANA, as it develops. We'll be getting it up on my website soon and plans for a party, show and sale of the work is underway. Please call the studio or email for more info in the meantime.
510-625-9778
www.theaizzi.com
thea@theaizzi.com