Sum Yourself Up in 2 Words

I was in a workshop once (One State arts conference, 2011) and they asked us to describe ourselves in just two words. I said:

Earnest, yet Snarky.

Right now I’m working on my elevator pitch – you know, that 30 second explanation of what you do – and I’m having trouble with it because I do work that’s not only diverse, but kind of opposite.

Intuition Necklace Copyright Elaine Luther

I make jewelry that’s completely sincere, my Women’s Rites of Passage (TM) line, like the intuition necklace, above. The necklaces are important pieces, pieces with a story, with meaning, that you can wear even if you’re the only one who knows the meaning behind the piece. You can see some of those in my shop, here.

Never Recovered by Elaine Luther
Copyright 2011 Elaine Luther

My Medals are also completely serious. You can see those in the portfolio, here. I didn’t have a word for what I’m doing with those, but now I do, a speaker at the Zoom Symposium, Stephen Saracino said he uses reliquaries as an idiom. There you go! I’m using medals as an idiom to say what I want to say. A vehicle, to try another word.

There’s a brand new medal in the series! Newsletter subscribers will see it first! Scroll down to the bottom of the page to sign up.

Dead Fish Postage Stamp Bronze copyright Elaine Luther

And yet, I also make jewelry that’s just funny, like my Dead Fish Postage Stamp pendant, or my bronze ice cream cone. I simply love taking something that’s an every day item, and then monumentalizing it by making it in bronze, the stuff of sculpture. It’s just my quirky sense of humor. These would seem to fit in no where with my sincere jewelry or my just pretty jewelry, but they’re just as much from me as those necklaces in the Women’s Rites Jewlery (TM) line.

And there are my collage paintings, which have a lot of variety. And the sculptures that will be shown at a branch of the Chicago Public Library in March of this year. Those are like nothing else you’ve seen from me before. They manage to be earnest and funny at the same time.

That’s what I do! I make stuff, stuff to wear, stuff to look at, all inspired by women’s lives in general, or my life in particular.

How can I put all of that into one or two sentences?

I’m an artist and a jeweler. I make art and jewelry. I make sincere stuff and funny stuff. When people see my work, sometimes they laugh (in a good way), sometimes they are moved. Hopefully, they can connect in some way, because that’s what art’s about.