Meet Kerri O'Connor From Les Trois Fleurs...
I live in Chesterland, Ohio and have been creating since I was very young. My grandmother would bring me home scraps of fabric from her travels and I would make Christian Dior look-a-like suits for my Barbie dolls. I made my own clothes in junior and senior high school.
How it all got started... Growing up, I was in awe of my grandmother – she was a seamstress and milliner. My father was a sign painter and my mother also a decorator… it is a “family” thing. I had a small business making slip covers. I also make porcelain dolls. For jewelry, I was on vacation attending a fiddlers convention and saw some ocean jasper stones at a shop and I could not walk away from them. They were “talking to me”… a month later I was on a weekend trip near Washington DC and found a bead store…. Several hours later I walked out with a rather large bag of supplies and several starting projects. And that started it for me formally as a business.In terms of inspiration, often it is an idea that comes to me (I carry a small sketch book with me) or it can be a color, a texture, a movie, music… typically it is something that lifts me into a higher consciousness and I become very open and inspired.
As a Reiki Master and an energy worker, I design each piece with the specific intent to draw and invoke positive and loving thoughts that amplify the beauty and qualities of the materials. I especially love embracing beautiful semi-precious and other stones with sterling or fine silver, copper, gold-filled, and natural brass. This is my passion and brings me happiness which, in turn, enhances the natural qualities of each stone with the feelings of love, happiness, and good will. It is my intent that this will be passed on to the eventual wearer. Why? The chances are that if you are happy, you will naturally spread it like wild fire to everyone around you too.
Meet Don From Art Cellar Studio Inc...
I work more than full time in the Human Resources field. All my glass projects are completed during nights, weekends and holidays, during my spare time.
My creativity comes from my mother who was an excellent painter, needleworker and chef. She taught me to cook, and encouraged the development of my creative spirit through the arts.
I got started in my craft when I was looking for a stained glass window for my home, at the time, in Columbia, TN. I visited a local stained glass gallery to inquire about them making it for me. They gave me a price, and then said, for about a fraction of that, you could design and build it yourself. They taught classes and sold stained glass supplies. That lead to a life-long love of glass. I'm absolutely fascinated by the opportunity glass provides to play with color, and watch its fluid and translucent qualities form an object of beauty. I enjoy letting my imagination run wild in my designs. It's a pleasure for me to share what I do, and I find it all great fun and an endless challenge.
Each piece has two or three layers of glass. The design is developed in my head, and often sketched in advance, matching colors, textures and irridescence. During the fusing process, the glass is heated to approximately 1600F degrees in a kiln. Once the glass is in the kiln, it's like choreographing a free-flowing dance that cannot be stopped. It is cooled overnight, and once it reaches room temperature each piece is removed from the kiln and inspected for perfection. Almost all pieces require grinding irregular edges with a diamond bit grinder, to smooth out any rough edges and create the final form. The glass is then reheated in the kiln to about 1400F degrees to fire polish and smooth the edges. Each piece takes about 16 hours to produce. Obviously, multiple pendants are placed in the kiln at the same time. A large piece, such as a bowl, will occupy the kiln alone for the same timeframe outlined above.
My most favorite piece is a glass panel made using a process called Verre' Eglomise, which involves designing a pattern, cutting it out and placing it on the glass, then sandblasting the exposed areas to create a rough texture in the glass. The glass can then be painted by rubbing a special oil paint into the rough areas. The entire back of the piece is then covered in copper foil and sealed.
The message behind my work is, life has difficult moments, but within it there's beauty to behold and satisfaction to be achieved. Enjoy it to the fullest, and look for ways to increase the fulfillment life has to offer.
Where do I start… Well, I’m a Jersey Girl, I have lived here in Ohio for 25 years now and I still miss the food and the ocean. I’m married, with two grown sons and a very handsome 4 yr. old grandson. I graduated with my degree in fashion design. Soon after getting married, I turned my energy towards nursing and became a Medical Assistant which I pursued for the last 20+ years.
Due to illness, I was no longer able to continue in my nursing career, so for two reasons, out of total boredom and necessity, I started to dabble in jewelry… I needed a special piece for an outfit, which I had searched all of the retail stores, just to find out that they didn’t have the color, style nor quality I was looking for! So, I couldn’t help but think I could just do it myself with better results… SO I DID… I am self-taught, and I must say it has been a learning experience.
After many of my friends and family enjoyed my gifts of jewelry, I received excellent encouragement to pursue jewelry making seriously,
hence the birth of my company EEJDesign.com
My husband nudged me into doing Arts and Craft Shows, which I have found to be a wonderful experience, no two shows are ever alike, it allows me to meet new and interesting people and cultivate new contacts. If it weren’t for my husband, none of it would be possible, he helps me with all of the set-up and tear-down, and he is quite the salesman.
I would have to say my creativity comes from my mother. Her stories and life experiences had always been an inspiration to me. She was a seamstress, and her specialty was designing and making beautiful ballroom gowns. Many of them can be seen in pictures from the 30’s and 40’s from the “Astoria, Roseland and Savoy Ballrooms” in New York City. She was, I believe very crafty out of necessity, in those times you had to be.
As far as my creative process goes, anything and everything can trigger it, listing to “Yanni” while in my workshop, or just seeing a beautifully colored flower. I average about 3 hours of sleep a night, so I often times wake up and go directly to my workshop with coffee in hand, Diezel my dog behind me, and an idea just waiting to be realized. Style wise, I steer towards simple, elegant, and timeless designs. I’m drawn to subtle forms in my work. I love the natural shapes and textures of components like freshwater pearls or beach glass. I’m drawn to the colors and richness of precious and semi-precious stones.
My goal is to someday open a small studio. Much like my mother, I love to design pieces for Bridal Parties, and Special Occasion pieces. I think it’s just the satisfaction of knowing that what I created truly made someone happy…
Check out these featured vendors at the 2012 Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show. This eclectic show will feature 135 of the most talented artisans and crafters. A portion of the show's proceeds will be donated to Project Night Night, an organization that provide care packages and support for children during times of home displacement.
2012 Spring Avant-Garde Art & Craft Show
Sunday, April 29, 2012, 10:00am-5:00pm
Wagner's Country Inn
30855 Center Ridge Rd.
Westlake, OH 44145
For more information, contact Becki Cooper, Event Coordinator at info@avantgardeshows.com.
