Vanity Fare: Thinking Outside the Box

Vanity Fare: This article was printed in the Art Doll Quarterly Spring 2009 issue, ghost written by Kirsten Lamb.

The muse

I was tickled by an unexpected gift from above. That’s how it started.

Out in the garden, the sun on my back, the early morning warmed the day as it began. Bees happily worked around me, and from above a blue jay feather floated down, touching my arm and landing at my feet. I set aside my gardening tools and ran my fingers over the feather as my mind ran over the possibilities. This feather is perfect, I thought, for Vanity Fare.

My creative process is envisioning a sculpture in my mind and making it reality. It’s my hands creating what my mind sees, turning dreams into art. And my mind sees more than the naked eye:  an old jewelry box is not just a discarded and forgotten piece of wood. It’s the basis for my newest line – Vanity Fare – which takes something old and makes it new.

And so this feather spurred on the creation of a sculpture, re-purposed from an old jewelry box.

Growing as an artist

I’ve created with my hands since I was a child growing up in New Jersey. Whether the medium was dirt and water for concocting mud pies or watercolors for painting on paper, I drew inspiration from texture, color and form.  Nature – whether in the form of a feather or dirt and water – has always been my muse.

After moving to Colorado in 1978, my desire to work in three dimensions urged me to pick up polymer clay. Working with this colorful, tactile medium became my passion, and I started a company:  G.P. Originals.

My first designs were playful and colorful jewelry, ornaments and nativity sets. My interest and study of native cultures soon evolved into figurative works of Native American women engaged in daily activities wearing authentic dress and hairstyles.

My work is constantly going through changes, as an artist’s mind is always taking in and perceiving information.  In the future, I plan on creating larger pieces, which will be a natural progression of my art to this point: from jewelry to dolls to jewelry boxes.

As I create now, the Vanity Fare line allows my art to follow my vision for any old jewelry box, freeing up my creativity to flow with a wide assortment of materials.

Creating Vanity Fare

I collect vintage jewelry from yard sales, estates sales or friends. Rolling an earring or ring around in my hand, I think about what it was like to live in era when this was worn. Who wore it? Where was she going? What else was she wearing?

The box itself, also discovered in any variety of places, talks to me of not wanting to be put aside and forgotten. I see potential for a new creation, rich in both character and functionality.

With a cornerstone item in hand, like the blue jay feather or a vintage jewelry piece, I gather the many ingredients that will help me concoct a one-of-a-kind sculpture. Velvet ribbon, pins, buttons, stamps and written words provide different textures and colors, helping me to create the perfect statement – or flavor – for each box.

I use bright colors and metallic paints, shiny things that attract the eye. Attaching pieces to the box with hot glue and epoxy, my main tools are my hands. The figures on top are all one-of-a-kind polymer clay sculptures, with expressions that invoke a sense of whimsy.

While each Vanity Fare piece is unique, they all share these whimsy expressions as well as a functional quality. One figure has arms that can reach out, holding and displaying the owner’s necklaces and bracelets. Another has distinctive buttons used as drawer knobs.

The old jewelry box takes on a new life as it becomes a sculpture.

The pieces first arrange themselves in my mind, and my hands bring the vision to life. Eight hours later, a new sculpture sits on my table. This has become my process of creating; I have come to trust it.

In a world crowded with worries, fears, disappointments and pain, I want my art to bring smiles to faces. Life is so serious – my art shouldn’t be. Vanity Fare is whimsy and light-hearted; it’s art and it’s functional. It’s thinking outside the box – the jewelry box.