World Artisan Gems

Website Links:http://MangoTangoDesigns.com

http://MangoTango.etsy.com

Geranium V necklace

Where are you located?

Summer months: Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Winter months: Naples, Florida

Tell us a bit about yourself: I feel I exist to create. I am a full-time jewelry designer specializing in original art jewelry constructed of fine silver, bronze, sterling, fused dichroic glass and copper. My designs are influenced by nature in general and the sea specifically. Seashells, beaches, oceans, and mermaids — and the colors that represent them — are frequent themes in my work, as are the bright colors and rhythms of the Caribbean.

Oak Branch

Prior to discovering the joys of jewelry creation, I was a professional miniaturist, creating 1/12th and 1/24th scale plants and flowers for dollhouses and miniature scenes. I am a Fellow member of the International Guild of Miniature Artisans, the highest level of juried achievement in the world of fine scale miniatures. I am also a Certified PMC Artisan.

When did you start creating your jewelry/art?  A chance visit to a dollhouse shop in the English Cotswolds many years ago turned out to be a collision with destiny for me. I was instantly and completely besotted with the tiny world I saw. I began creating 1/12th scale potted plants and flowers with increasingly precise detail and became known for the miniscule buds and teensy branches I delighted in adding to my pieces.Decades later, I discovered the joy of creating my own jewelry and a much larger, though no less detailed, world opened up for me, to my enormous delight! The most enjoyable part of making jewelry for me is including the same level of minute detail — everything from combining intricate textures to molding the tiniest of seashells — that I gave to my work in scale miniatures. Echoes of my intense love for botanicals, miracles from the sea and lots and lots of texture still exist in my work even though the medium has changed. Customers have been very pleasantly surprised by the weight of my pieces. They are never flimsy and I don’t skimp on silver content! If it doesn’t delight them, it won’t delight me, either. Scores of repeat customers have convinced me that I’m on the right track.

By the Sea

What exactly do you create? I specialize in themed art jewelry pieces made of precious metals and my own fused dichroic glass. I love making truly unique pieces that exude lots of personality and extreme detail. Necklaces, pendants, bracelets, earrings, rings and anklets are all part of my portfolio, as well as handcrafted supplies for the use of other jewelry designers such as fine silver beads, bead caps and fused glass cabochons.

Koi necklace

What materials and methods do you use? My jewelry pieces are primarily constructed with multiple layers of fine silver with accents of fused dichroic glass and findings of sterling silver. Pieces with text and three-dimensional renderings of leaves, seashells and mermaids are frequent themes. Where size allows, my pieces are signed and stamped on the reverse side. My work is either one-of-a-kind or extremely limited edition, although each is painstakingly created individually, by hand. I don’t cast my pieces; I individually sculpt them. My beads and other hollowware are created by layering many coats of fine silver paste over a burnout core and incinerating those cores in my jewelry kiln. I have recently begun adding solid bronze and copper to my portfolio as well.

Where do your design inspirations come from?From nature, from the sea, and from my own imagination. I have many more ideas swirling around in my head than lifetime left to implement them all!

What is your best working environment/where is your studio? I have two studios in two similar yet disparate environments. Since my husband and I divide our time between Cape Cod and Southwest Florida, I have a setup in each location. The common factor that unifies them is that both overlook the sea from which the bulk of my inspiration is drawn. This also gives me something distant to focus my eyes upon when they’re tired.

Words of Wisdom

My Cape Cod studio is large, open, bright and very conducive to encouraging my creativity with a large bay window facing the water and a walk-in closet that I use to store my tools and supplies. It’s also flanked by woods and a perennial garden filled with beautiful flowers – including lots and lots of hydrangeas – during the summer months. My Florida studio, on the other hand, is very small but it has a breathtaking view of the Gulf of Mexico. On the Cape, I can watch the sun rising each morning. In Florida, I can watch the sun setting each evening. There isn’t much that can top that in terms of inspiration!

Where can your products be seen? Currently, my jewelry pieces may only be purchased online. I have two online shops:

http://MangoTangoDesigns.com which is a secure, encrypted ZenCart site; and http://MangoTango.etsy.com – my own shop within a wonderful cooperative website that showcases the handcrafted work of independent artisans. I also have an artist portfolio of my work on TalentDatabase.com and a Flickr photostream. A portfolio of my sold items appears in both the latter locations as well as at MangoTangoDesigns.com. Acknowledgements from other artists can be seen here: http://thedb.com/MangoTango

Upcoming events: None planned at this time – I have been so busy designing and creating, it has left little time for me to do much else right now! I do hope to begin exhibiting my work at juried shows in the near future.

Magazine articles or press: I have been featured in articles on various blogs including Art Bead Scene and have been selected as a featured artist on TalentDatabase.

Gazing Ball necklace

Who are you a fan of? Any independent, successful woman who has carved out a niche for herself in any discipline through hard work and determination.

Price range: $10-300.00

Tell us a little about one of your favorite creations: I love pieces that contain messages of inspiration and feature three-dimensional renderings of seashells and mermaids combined with fused glass. Glass imparts so much depth, color and personality to jewelry.

Anything else you wish to add? My favorite quote is still this from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: “Art in the blood is liable to manifest itself in the strangest forms.”

The Maya Necklace

Beautiful and artistic ~ thank you for inviting us to find out more about your work. Gazing Ball is an absolute favorite!