Masaoms Jewels

Today I am featuring Marta of masaoms.etsy.com She is a jewelry artist who makes some beautiful pieces that mix metals that are very organic and unique.



What inspired you to make this product?
Currently I have Atón, Geb, Nut, Isis and Lotus Flower collections. All of them come from the ancient Egypt, from its gods and goddesses and the beliefs that survive till today. I admire German jewelry and enjoy their technique very much. I love to mix modern techniques with more personal designs and new takes on old jewels. My passion for stones led me to study Gemology and this opened for me windows into an incredible world, with lots of minerals to discover and utilize.

What are your favorite materials to use?
I usually use Silver and natural stones. Sometimes I include 24kt gold in my jewels to create textures and colour contrastes.

Where do you live and how does that influence your art?
I live in Barcelona, although I was born in Vic, a city 70 km from Barcelona. In Vic, when I go to my mother's home, I find nature, clean air and a lot of memories. When I'm in Barcelona I love the sea, the mix of diferent people and to get lost at antique streets. One of my favourite places is "Plaça Sant Felip Neri", it's inspiring

Brook Owens Embroidery

I am please to introduce Etsy artist Brook Owens who does these wonderful embroidered pieces. She has something for everyone in her shop- from baby onsies to wall art. Check her out at brookowens.etsy.com


What inspired you to make this product?
All 1940's 1950's art inspires me. WWII posters, magazine ads, Tattoo flash, pin ups, artist such as Gil Elvgren, Alberto Vargas, and Sailor Jerry (Norman Collins). I love pushing the limits to what can be embroidered. No longer being restricted to kittens and puppies! A huge inspiration was Jenny Hart. I love her portraits. Her patterns from Sublime Stitching is what really made me put down the knitting needles and pick up a needle and thread!

What inspires you on a daily basis?
Everything really... Most of my ideas come from just stumbling upon images that spark my interest. Anything I can trace I can embroider. That is what I love about embroidering, the possibilities are endless! I find a lot of inspiration from other crafters and sites such as flickr and Craftster.

What are your favorite materials to use?
For embroidering I love a good quality cotton. So far I have found it is the most forgiving. As far as my other crafts I do, I love wool blend felt. It is also so amazing to stitch on!

Jessi Taylor and the Mangels

I am pleased to introduce Jessi Taylor from Etsy. I was intrigued by these bracelets and taken by the cleaver name. You can find her and all of her wonderful products at jessitaylor.etsy.com


What inspired you to make this product?
well, there are these bracelets that bike people make out of old bicycle spokes; the spoke has a little button on the end that makes for a great clasp. i adapted that idea into a unisex bracelet that is kind of fancy, but really easy to wear; and i really love that it might be recognizable to a bike mechanic with a keen eye!

What are your favorite materials to use?
sterling silver and gold are my media; but what really gets me going is setting things in it: natural stones, buttons, typewriter keys, bike reflectors, taxidermy eyes, beach glass, ceramic tiles.....

Who are some etsy artists that you admire?
there are so many awesome artists on etsy!
sunnyrisingleather.etsy.com
gaiaconceptions.etsy.com
eggmanstudios.etsy.com
ruffeoheartslilsnoty.etsy.com
LoucheLab.etsy.com
hierapparel.etsy.com
Elizaveta.etsy.com
and of course, all my peeps at etsymetal:
etsymetal.com

Pacokeco

Today we are talking to Cohen, who's shop is pacokeco on Etsy. These cute tickets caught my eye one day as I was surfing around Etsy- they made me want to check out the rest of her shop. you can do the same.... www.pacokeco.etsy.com


What inspired you to make this product?
As with 90% of the items in my shop, this began as a request for a custom item. My buyers are a creative bunch. They give me the ideas and I just execute them. Often, my humble little paper bits are just starting points or embellishments for larger or more elaborate craft pieces. Some pieces have even been made into jewellery!

What inspires you on a daily basis?
The almost neurotic need to stay busy and my love of deconstructing, recycling and repurposing. Most recently, I pulled apart an old sweater and reknit it into a divine, airy, mesh scarf while watching the 3 hour movie Artificial Intelligence.

Where do you live and how does that influence your art?
I live in a small blue collar city in Ontario, Canada made up primarily of auto workers. People here are practical and thrifty and my tendancies are to be fancy and artistic. I realize you can be all of those things, just not all at the same time.

BicyclePaintings

What inspired you to make this product?
Bikes!
It’s a celebration!
This piece is part of a group of work. It’s a screenprint based on a monotype. The monotype is made up of lots of single bikes that I cut out of rubber and print individually until I’m visually satisfied.
All the bikes are from my paintings, they’re my friends bikes, mostly.
I like to see them heaped together, the shapes they make. The way they make me think of a lot of different people arriving at the same place.

What inspires you on a daily basis?
I like to make art that relates to what’s going on around me.
Of course there’s lots of bikes, because I use them for transportation and also ride with my friends and for exercise. I’m very inspired by bicycles both actually and symbolically. I love how a bicycle makes it possible to harness my own energy to move forward. They’re also really beautiful.
Other than that I’m inspired by what I see, on a basic level, shapes, the way light hits things, and I’m inspired by what my friends are doing, both artistically and generally.

What are your favorite materials to use?
I use a lot of different materials. It’s fun to explore media. I keep coming back to oil paint, it’s so luscious. I like acrylic on paper, a lot, I like drawing materials, watercolor pencils and crayons especially, I like printmaking on a press and screen printing.
I try to find the medium that best suits what I’m doing. They all have unique qualities, like different foods.

Where do you live and how does that influence your art?
I live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in a big loft I share with other people. It’s a raw space, that’s great for working. It influences my work because my studio space is so great for making stuff. It’s also a nice neighborhood with a lot of artsy stuff going on.

Making a Comeback!

Hi all!
I have not posted for 3 weeks and am excited to get back in the swing of blogging and promoting my jewelry business.
Since I last posted I have moved and am still in the throws of all of it to be honest. I feel settled enough to get back into things a little. All of my essentials are in place and I can park one car in the garage so I think I am not doing too badly for just getting in a week ago.
I should be back in the later part of this week with my first featured artist of the new year- keep checking back!