Little Photo Goodness

I just want to share some new photos taken by friend and fellow artist Eujin Kim Neilan, proprietor of Uni-T at the Natick Mall.  They feature Hieropice's Teal & Gold Maasai Beaded Necklace and Uni-T's yellow Owl tank top.  Eujin was so right that these pieces look great together!  And thanks to Lexi, for modeling!  Uni-T's yellow racer-back owl tank top available here, and at Uni-T at the Natick Mall in Natick, Mass.  Hieropice's Teal and Gold Maasai Beaded Necklace available here, and at Uni-T at the Natick Mall.

And what's new is....

Everyone's out and about these days, enjoying the sunshine (which lasts about 5 minutes here in New England!), myself included; I spent last Saturday sweating it out at Assembled in Assembly Square, and so appreciate all the folks who came out to visit and shop!  I'll be back at Assembled this coming Saturday, July 27th from 11 AM to 4 PM, so if you're in the Greater Boston area, stop by!  There'll be food trucks (Bon Me and Frozen Hoagies, to name a couple!) and a live band and Hieropice in our new spiffed-up tent.  Think carnival-style bunting.

  If you haven't checked out Polyvore yet, you should.  It's a wonderful resource for fashion/style ideas; think a collection of crowd-sourced digital fashion collages.  But, with things you could actually buy.  Without mortgaging your house.  Polyvore users have been virtually-styling Hieropice jewelry in the coolest ways, and coming up with ways to wear our pieces that I'd never thought of!  You can now see some of the collections Polyvore users have put together in our Facebook album, "Hieropice Styled."  The image above is one of the many Polyvore collages featuring Hieropice.  Snap snap Polyvore.
  Citrine Yellow Maasai Beaded Earrings.  We want to make sure you can see our pieces in all their glory, even if it's only virtually!

We've also got some new photos up for Hieropice's Maasai beaded pieces, like our
  And, finally, Hieropice pieces will now be featured at Uni-T in the Natick Mall on an ongoing basis!  Two months were not enough, we just couldn't let go!  So now all of you brick-and-mortar shoppers in the Natick area can see Hieropice pieces in person, try them on....and then buy them.  Cause that last part is important.  :)  Happy days!
See you on Saturday!
Dara

Black and White Maasai Beaded Necklace

    Considering the last item I introduced, Hieropice's Winter White Terrarium Necklace, and my newest item, one might think I've kicked color to the curb.  Not so!  Just embracing the absence of color, and the striking nature of sharp contrast.  Introducing Hieropice's Black and White Maasai Beaded Necklace.

    Contrast between two colors brings both to life, and enhances each.  And in fact, I think I misspoke, referring to black and white as the absence of color, when really, they are colors in their own right (thinking visually here, not light spectrum-wise).  I wear black to feel sophisticated, polished, maybe a little mysterious?  And white makes me feel regal and elegant.  The two together?  Judge for yourselves.  It's a special color relationship, for sure.  I am definitely a fan, hope you are too!

Cheers and pumpkin lattes,
Dara

Yay!!! New listing!

You can’t hear me, but I’m singing this: I’ve got a new listing up on the website!:

 

 Yellow Maasai Beaded Earrings, Flower shape

Finally!

  Recently, a good friend, Jaime Parker, told me she'd be doing the Susan G. Komen 3-Day, a 60-mile fundrasing walk to raise awareness/raise funds for breast cancer research.  (You can read more about the walk: here).  She was looking for support in gathering funds for this daunting challenge, and asked if I could help out.

  Like a lot of people, I have personal experience with breast cancer; my grandmother battled it for most of her life.  It's a life-changing diagnosis, and the current treatments (mastectomy, radiation, chemotherapy, etc.) can be devastating, and often only temporarily effective.  We are definitely in need of better treatments that will improve patients' quality of life and keep them healthy long-term, and the Susan G. Komen Foundation is doing important research toward that end.

   So, I created a new Mini Terrarium Necklace, in the signature pink of the cancer awareness movement, to help Jaime raise funds for the Komen 3-Day.  30% of all proceeds from the sale of this necklace will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.  I hope you'll support their efforts, and Jaime's, and buy it!  The break-throughs they may make could change our lives one day.

With lurve,

Dara

Super Secret Surprise

We've got a really special product coming to our Etsy site.  I can't say much about it yet, as things are still in the works, but I hope you'll all love and support it!  More info to come soon!

Emerald and Kelly Green Maasai Beaded Earrings

New, and now on Hieropice's Etsy site!:

New listing!

Introducing our White Coral Branch and Crystal Earrings:

We've Got a Whole New Style!

Amber and Gold Rivoli Earrings by Hieropice

    I want to share a new listing, that I’ve just added to Hieropice’s Etsy site.  It’s a whole new style, that we’ve never created before, and I’d love to get your feedback.  What do you think?

Winning Entry to the Swarovski Competition

Years ago, when I was in art school, I entered a Swarovski (of Swarovski Crystal) design competition.  Entrants were tasked with creating a design showcasing the broad range of crystals Swarovski makes, and designers could create pretty much anything, as long as it was handmade, original, and at least 60% crystals.   I won first place, with a design the incorporated all of the romantic elements I love, crystals and feathers and orchids, all in white.  It was the biggest competition I’d ever entered, and the biggest prize I’d ever won! 

Winning design from the Swarovski competition

   
    Entering the competition exposed me to Swarovski’s incredible line of products; I honestly had no idea they made so many different crystals.  I learned about how they’re made, and disassociated my concept of Swarovski from and overly-blinged-out ice-dancer’s costume to sophisticated, beautiful elegance.  I don’t make a lot of pieces for Hieropice that incorporate crystals, and strive to make sure that when I do, the pieces maintain that sophistication and elegance.  Hopefully, you think these new earrings do!
     Not to worry though, if you enjoy Hieropice’s other lines (Maasai Beaded, Lost World Mini Terrarium Necklaces, etc.)  We’ll still be creating those!  We just want to make sure we’re always innovating, and offering you something new.

An Ode to Nature

   

romanescu, a relative of cauliflower/broccoli

     I have to say, I think nature does it best.  The crazy, colorful, complex creations that spring up around us are better than anything I could create.  My entire motivation in art-making is to attempt to capture some of that mysterious beauty, and make it wearable.  I think I’ll spend the rest of my life trying, (and failing, really).  But I try.  And it’s intriguing to try, and to discover new imagery, new vistas, that seem like they should, and should always have been, worn.
      In creating, I like keeping close to the Earth, or as close to it as I can.  I love thinking about the origins of glass; inert sand and base elements fired till molten, transforming into delicate transparency, as ancient as we are, really.  Who figured it out first?  Or mastered the art of it, somehow knowing how to handle a material no one had ever witnessed before.   It had to be inherently frightening, and dangerous.  I strive to create something new like that, an innovation, that will be forever mysterious and fascinating.
    I saw mace once, the raw, sheathed form of nutmeg.  I thought it was incredibly beautiful, and how sad, that we only value the brown, ground spice from underneath, and most of us never get to see it in its natural form.  What an incredible piece of jewelry it would make!  When I went to Tanzania in 2010, I was so excited to go to a spice farm on the island of Zanzibar, and see where all of those fragrant/flavorful seasonings come from.  We saw vanilla orchids and pepper vines, green and climbing upon the Zanzibar apple and cinnamon trees. 

mace at Mr. Abeid's spice farm

I smelled the root of the cinnamon tree, identical to the scent of Vicks Vapo-Rub.  I squashed turmeric roots and curry leaves between my fingers leaving orange hues and spicy scents behind.  And then, Mr. Abeid, of the spice farm’s title, held out a yellow bulb, spotted brown and unassuming, and sliced it in half to expose the scarlet mace beneath.  It was my first site of it, fresh, and I was enamored.  I couldn’t take Mr. Abeid’s fresh stock home, but happily purchased a pack of his dried mace to squirrel away in my suitcase.

Nutmeg Pod Necklace, Brass

   Back in the states, I was at a bit of a loss as to how to handle the pods, preserve their color, hang them or showcase them to their fullest.  I decided they were so beautiful on their own, I would just shellac them, and drill them to affix a beautiful bail, and hang them from a simple chain.  The finished necklaces became some of my favorite pieces, attached to a wonderful memory of a far-off adventure.
  I hope to go on more adventures, acquire more materials that bring the energy of their origins with them.  Create more work, and send more out to you, with the hope that that energy carries through.

Nutmeg Pod Necklace