Introducing: One of A Kind, by Hieropice

  I feel I often begin posts by talking about how excited I am, and am probably getting dangerously close to sounding like I'm perennially hopped-up on something, so, despite the fact that I AM really excited about this announcement, I'm going to refrain from stating that.  At least, not first.
  I've so appreciated all the love folks have shown me, and support for Hieropice.  I think, as an artist, you've got to keep innovating, changing, doing new things, to keep your brain from atrophying, or burning out.  As I was making one of many made-to-order terrarium necklaces recently, I thought, man, I am working SO small, the vessel is so tiny, I really wish I could expand this and create a whole landscape in this thing!  And my next thought was, um.....I can!  So, I started thinking about ways to create miniature landscapes under glass, and for some reason, the first thing that came to mind was Tucson, Arizona, where I lived after high school.  The desert there was the most surprising place I'd been to-date; contrary to my impressions from back East, it was not "deserted" at all, but full of life, and amazing shifting color palates that revolved around the movements of the sun.  I saw more shapes, colors and textures in the desert than any landscape I'd encountered previously, and an abundance of plants with romantic names like "agave" and "ocotillo."  And weird things, inexplicable stacks of boulders balanced on the edge of a cliff, oversized cactus blossoms that only bloom at night and just once a year, and an aspen forest, covered in snow at the peak of Mt. Lemmon in the middle of the city, while miles below, it was eighty degrees and sunny.

Barrel Cactus Detail

   Yeah, all kinds of weird and wondrous, but memories of the desert haunt me now that I've moved back to the northeast, and it seemed fitting to create my first landscape from those memories.  And so, I am introducing the first of Hieropice's new one-of-a-kind Landscape Terrarium Necklaces, the Sonoran Desert Terrarium Necklace.

   My goal with this new line is to experiment with vessel shapes and sizes, creating miniatures incorporating a variety of techniques, like re-creating miniature plants from bits and pieces of other ones, hand-painting, dyeing, etc., with a focus on realism.
 
   This first piece includes a miniature barrel cactus that I impregnated with a slew of little wire spines, a stack of stones that I created to match my memories of Mt. Lemmon, lichen tumbleweeds and layers of sand that I hand-dyed, to recreate the changing landscape of the desert.  Red-tipped agave, cholla, and of course, the iconic Saguaro cactus, that the Arizona desert would be bereft without.  There are a lot of other goodies tucked in there, and the piece so reminds me of the Sonoran, I wish I could crawl into it!

Agave Detail

  The new one of a kind (ooak) pieces will be just that, never to be reproduced, so when they're sold, they're gone.  But I hope their new owners will enjoy having pieces that are unique, and knowing the one they own is the only one in existence.  I'll be listing the new pieces on Etsy as I make them, so stay tuned for future landscapes!

Hieropice is the Featured Artist at Uni-T

Quick post today!  Eujin Kim Neilan is the proprietor/artist behind Uni-T, a fabulous handmade brand offering her Eujin's original illustrations in screen-printed tee, necklace, hoodie, and card-form.  Uni-T recently opened up in the Natick Mall, a very swanky collection of stores in Natick, MA.  And Hieropice is the featured artist there for the month of May!  Check out Hieropice's collection at Uni-T, at the Natick Mall, 1245 Worcester Street, Natick, Massachusetts, 2nd floor, right near Nordstrom.

Meet the Press!

It's been a crazy week, with lots of projects going on simultaneously, but I wanted to share my feature in the May 5th, 2013 edition of the Boston Globe with you!  I was interviewed about running a handmade jewelry business online, and some of the ins and outs involved therein.  And I may have mentioned that I go to the post office in my pajamas to ship out Hieropice orders.  But hey, everyone does that, right?!  You can read the article on Boston.com, and it's posted above!
Cheers!
Dara

Spring is Sprung, Assembled, and New Additions

Hi all!
  The sun is finally out, on a regular basis, here in New England.  The sun and I have a troubled relationship (I'm allergic) but I'm still glad to see it!  Things are blooming, and my allergies are punishing me, but I'll take it!  It's Summer show season, and I can get back to taking photos for Hieropice outside, in gorgeous natural light.  Doing that in January was brutal.  We're just coming out of a tricky, scary period here in Boston, and I'm happy to feel good about going outside again.  After the Boston Marathon bombings and the manhunt for the bombers that followed, we were on lock-down here in my neighborhood as they turned up about 10 minutes away, in Watertown.  We were prohibited from leaving our homes, and it turns out the local man who they car-jacked in their escape attempt was car-jacked two blocks from my house.  I have several friends who live in the neighborhood that was a constant fixture on the news for days, as the police exchanged gunfire with the bombers and searched for the surviving bomber in resident's homes.  Everyone I care for is safe, thankfully, and I'm relieved the worst is over.
On a positive note, on May 18th, I'm taking on my first craft show as Producer, and I'm quite nervous, and excited about it!  I've been reaching out to all the artists' whose beautiful work I've seen at shows, purchased on Etsy, found in consignment shops like Boutique Fabulous and Magpie, or elsewhere online, and asking them to apply for the May 18th show, particularly those with Etsy shops. Somerville Beat interviewed me about the show, and did a great piece on it here , wherein they featured my Orange Flower Terrarium Necklace and we chatted about the vision behind the Assembled show on the 18th.  And, I'm even more excited about some new, one-of-a-kind pieces that I'm about to launch.  I'm finishing them up now, and can't wait to show them off, I'm really proud of how they've turned out and they're really different/unique, which is my constant goal.
  I've never seen anything like them in my 31 years of life, so I hope you'll all respond as positively to them as I hope you will!  Anyway, get outside and enjoy the proliferation of Spring, if you can!  I know I will.
I've had this vision of making an all-Etsy craft show happen for a while now, and it's finally going to happen!  The

Cheers!
Dara

Arts and Crafts Fair!

There's still time to apply to Assembled: A Handmade Arts Market in Assembly Square! April 30th is the deadline: http://bit.ly/12o2w4y

Hieropice on Scoutmob

Just a quick post today, because I got really excited when I received the most recent Scoutmob Shoppe e-mail.  If you're not familiar with Scoutmob, I highly recommend it!  Kinda like Groupon, but cooler, and it features a Shoppe with handmade items from artists all over the US.  And they promote shopping local by showing you artwork and goods from artists in your city.   Anyhoo, I sell some of Hieropice's wares on Scoutmob, and my Winter White Terrarium Necklace was featured in Scoutmob's Shoppe e-mail!  YAY!

Assembled: A Handmade Arts Market

  I've encountered an exciting new opportunity!

  Well, let me back-track a bit.  I've been out-of-the-loop for a little bit while I cared for a loved-one who was ill, but now I'm back, and embarking on something very exciting!

   I've wanted to do an all-Etsy-seller craft show forever now, but logistically, it seemed challenging. BUT, Aigner/Prensky Marketing has launched, with the backing of Federal Realty, a series of Summer craft shows to celebrate the redevelopment of the Assembly Square Mall area in Somerville.  You can read more about what they're hoping to do with the area here: http://www.assemblyrow.com/vision/, but they've got big plans for the it, including creating new housing, restaurants and shops, and it promises to be pretty cool.

  But that's not the big story.  I will be producing the premier show of the Assembled: The Handmade Arts Market at Assembly Row, for Aigner/Prensky Marketing on Saturday, May 18th.  AND it's going to be an all-Etsy show!  A show full of Etsy artisans sharing their unique, handmade wares, to kick off the Summer.  I am so excited.  Sometimes, vending online means you repeatedly interact with people who you never get to meet in person.  You may even talk to them every day, or perhaps they've purchased a number of your pieces, but you have no idea what they look like or who they are and could pass them on the street and never know it.  This show will be such a great opportunity for Etsy sellers to connect to eachother, to supporters of the Etsy marketplace, to chat and exchange ideas. 

 

Where the Assembled market will be held

The show will also feature a workshop on how to start an Etsy shop, tips and tricks for running a successful shop, etc.  So if you have an Etsy shop and feel you have something prurient to share, or you'd like to start and Etsy shop but aren't sure where to begin, or you're already running a shop but could use some help getting it where you want it, come to the workshop!

  Applications for the May 18th, Etsy-themed Assembled show are now being accepted.  Please apply!  Or, if you know of an artist in New England whose work you love, please forward the link along to them: http://www.assemblyrow.com/wp-content/aruploads/2013/03/Application_for_artists-fillable-form.pdf.  I want this show to be spectacular, and with your help, it will be!

Cheers! 
Dara