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Q1 How did you get into jewelry design? Where did you study and what was your major specialization?
I actually never set out to become a jewelry designer! I started out as more of a mixed media sculptor in college, working mostly with wood and resin. (I went to the University of North Carolina in Asheville.) My line of resin jewelry was born somewhat accidentally. I was cutting pieces of resin from a sculpture with a saw several years ago, and a tiny fragment fell off that had a bit of grass and text embedded inside. It was so visually interesting, I drilled a hole in it and began wearing it as a pendant. After repeated questions from people asking if they could purchase something similar, I started making more. At the time, I was working in a tiny studio in an old waterfront warehouse in Seattle with lots of other artists, and we would have monthly "art walks" and open studios that drew large crowds. I just set up a tiny table there selling my creations. It all started rolling from there... |
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Q2 Are you using a real flower/leaves in your jewelry? Please tell us the process that your products is born.
Yes, all of the natural objects you see are real, found objects. I spend a lot of time collecting leaves, flowers, twigs, bugs, bones, etc. They are all encased in resin against a painted wood backing. I also have a line of hand-painted pieces that are all painted in acrylic and ink on wood with tiny brushes and toothpicks. Each one is unique and hand-made. No two will be exactly alike. After the resin is cast and dried, I cut each piece out with a tiny saw and polish them. They are then strung on a simple, soft steel cord.
Q3 With a jewelry designing background, how did you begin painting?
Both my jewelry and paintings actually emerged out of my background in sculpture. In my older work, I was embedding found objects in resin and incorporating them into wooden boxes and "shrines." |
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Q6 What is the one item in your wardrobe you can't live without?
Right now, probably this long, thin, brown and red scarf a friend brought me from India. In Oregon it can be cold and windy or insanely hot, sometimes all in the same day. It's good as a scarf/wrap or an impromptu skirt for going down to the river to swim. Even just throwing it around my shoulders seems to make almost any outfit look sharp and pulled together! |
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Q7 What do you offer to consumers different than others?
Tiny works of wearable art. Jewelry that is hand-crafted with love and is affordable.
Q8 Where is your favorite place to see art?
Gosh, there are so many creative people here in Oregon and Washington, and so many great little galleries, especially in Portland's downtown Pearl District. I like the Grass Hut on Burnside St. I still haven't discovered everything here since I'm new to Portland. In Seattle though, I like the Henry Art Gallery, the Seattle Asian Art Museum, Bluebottle Gallery, and the Roq La Rue Gallery. Elsewhere, I love Cinder's Gallery in Brooklyn, NY too.
Q9 What is your business motto mantra?
Always strive to create the best art you can. Work hard. Love what you do. Be grateful. Get out to the forest and mountains as much as possible. |
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"We wake, if we ever wake at all, to mystery, rumors of death, beauty, violence..." - Annie Dillard
Faryn Davis originally hails from the hills of the western Appalachian mountains where she grew up in a rural mountain setting among cows, endless tobacco fields, and dirt roads. There she spent many days wandering and collecting leaves, tadpoles, bugs, feathers, nests, bones, vials of dirt, clumps of moss, scraps of paper, and other found ephemera and hoarding them away in handmade books and small boxes. She continues to be a "collector of small, powerful things" in her mixed media art which often incorporates found organic elements into illuminated shrine-like forms, resin paintings, and here in her line of resin jewelry. Each pendant is unique and encapsulates a real, found object or hand-painted scene. They are hand-made with love and are inspired by the beauty and mystery of the natural world and all of its found things, lost things, fragile things and imperfectly beautiful things. Much of her newest line is influenced by living in the Pacific Northwest of America and its perpetual, foggy grayness... She pursued art from an early age and studied at North Carolina School of the Arts, in France, Italy, and Nepal, and received a BFA degree in sculpture at the University of North Carolina at Asheville in 2000. She now carries her line of jewelry in over 30 stores and galleries throughout the US, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art Store, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and the Seattle Art Museum. She now lives and creates art full time at her home studio in Portland, OR. |
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I've been working with resin for almost 10 years, and I'm continuously experimenting with the medium. It's so versatile. I began painting on wood and pouring thick layers of resin over the image to create a "foggy", mysterious effect. And, as in my sculptures, I continued to encase bits of grass, text, and other found objects into the resin as I built up the layers. My painted pendants were sort of miniature "offshoots" of the larger paintings.
Q4 Who is your customer and how do they find you?
I think my jewelry probably appeals to many types of people. If I were to generalize though, I'd say most people who buy my work appreciate unique, hand-crafted art: People who don't buy clothes or jewelry from "big-box" stores or mass-produced work. People who love and support local crafters, artists, and designers. Nature enthusiasts, and urban, indie-craft lovers also show appreciation. I guess they find me through various stores, shows, and word of mouth. Some find me online or via links to my website from other sites I think. |
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Q5 What are you working on right now?
At the moment, I'm working on some new paintings of forest scenes for a gallery called G. Gibson Gallery in Seattle. (www.ggibsongallery.com) I'm also working on some new pendant designs for a show in August at the Henry Art Gallery, also in Seattle. It's a 1-day show called Rock, Paper, Scissors, and will feature the work of 10 local DIY designers. (www.henryart.org) |
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Q10 Would you like to add anything for your Japanese fans?
Do I have Japanese fans?! Wow! Can I come visit you? |
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