Last but not least for our Design Team interviews is Jen Cushman. A mixed-media artist and independent writer, Jen's also the Design Team Coordinator and New Media Manager for objects and elements.
Q: How long have you been making art?
A: I was born artistic. Though my mother doesn't have a crafty bone in her body, she recognized it in me and always found a way, on a very limited family budget, to ensure that I had basic art supplies.
Q: What's your first memory of having a creative "right brain" mind.
A: I learned to read and write early. I vividly remember being in preschool two mornings a week and not knowing how to play with the other kids, so I'd sit at the little art table making books and drawing pictures until it was time to go home.
Q: Of all the art mediums to specialize in, why jewelry?
A: I didn't start making jewelry until about 5 years ago when I took a class from Susan Lenart Kazmer. In high school, I taught myself how to make simple beaded earrings so I could save money for clothes, but I've been doing mixed-media paper arts for the past 10 years. Susan changed the way I look at jewelry. I'm excited about adornment as an extension of storytelling, and I've had a passion for learning new techniques ever since.
To learn more about Jen, click here.
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A wordsmith by nature, Jen says she's excited about using art jewelry as another visual medium for telling compelling narratives.
"For the past decade, I've been doing all the paper arts, but I get so excited when I sit down at my newly-dedicated jeweler's bench and make mixed-media adornment," she says. "I love being able to wear my little vignettes."
Her first Design Team submission for objects and elements™ is a necklace called A Song in Her Heart. The piece is a homage to her sister, who's 15 years older than Jen and has always been her best friend, mentor and cheerleader.
"Patti and I are so much alike, despite our age difference. But we're completely opposite when it comes to music. I prefer to work in peace and quiet, while my sister always surrounds herself with song."
Jen used objects and elements™ Recycled Silk Sari Ribbon for the necklace cord, 20-Gauge Bronze Wire for the metalwork of the jump rings and trapeze attachment, Tiny Glass Bottle with Cork, Cogged Heishi, Chubby Round Metal Beads, Mardi Gras Glitter, Bronze Hook Clasp and other beads from her studio.
Inside the bottle is a torn piece of vintage sheet music. Notice the detail of the cork? It's been dipped in red and fuchsia beeswax to seal the message.
