|
Hello, My name is Arthur DeLaurentis. I have been a lapidary (stone cutter) for over 45 years and a serious silver smith for the past 15 years. My first love is the lapidary work. The natural beauty of gem stone material is what inspires me to create different jewelry pieces. I cut and polish all my own natural stones. Over the years I have taken a number of different classes to improve my work. There are so many aspects of jewelry making that it is almost impossible to try to master them all. I have learned so much over the years that I would encourage beginners not to give up. 1. Interview Question: What is the best art gift you have received or given? Last year I met the daughter of one of my customers who works at the American Embassy in Afghanistan. She sent me a box of rough Afghani lapis lazuli (about eight pounds). I in-turn made her a lovely pear shaped lapis pendant from the material. 2. Interview question: What is your inspiration when creating your art? My creativity grows whenever I see the images that occur in the natural gemstones. My goal is to free the beauty that lies within the unpolished stones. 3. Interview Question: When are you at your creative best? When I have trouble sleeping, I come up with some of my best design ideas. When morning comes I get up and draw my ideas. Then I refine how the piece will finally look. This is one of my intarsia pendants. The center is malachite surrounded by lapis, synthetic opal and rhodochrosite. It hangs from a hand woven chain, made from five strands of 26 gauge fine silver wire. I also forged the fittings. I like this piece because it incorporates all my handwork: my own design, my own intarsia, and my own weaving. It sold very quickly. I encourage everyone to pursue their dreams, take classes, and persevere in your art. 
0 Comments
 These ladies came to our CBAA studio & enjoyed painting with Anne Sands! What wonderful finished works of art!
Thanks Judy Berman for offering to do interviews with randomly selected members twice a month. Here is the first one. Cheryl Howard was chosen as Artist of the Year 2023. CHERYL HOWARD, Treasurer of CBAA; member for more than 5 years. She currently lives in Viera East and is originally from Augusta, Georgia. Something about me no one knows... I retired from Air Forces Reserves, served during Desert Storm. During a training exercise as a young lieutenant, I jumped out of a helicopter. The best art I've given is a portrait of my granddaughter with her dog. I created a composite of the two of them seated in a mystical garden of mushrooms and fairies (her favorite!). My favorite subject matter is everything... creating digital composites from my library of over 80,000 photographs that I've taken over the years. In addition to photography, my preferred medium is acrylics.  Thank you Judy Berman for coordinating random interviews with our members for CBAA facebook and our newsletter. She asked Susan Blakeslee the following questions: What is your position in CBAA? How long have you been a member? What community do you live in? Where are you from originally? I’m not a very active member, but I try and be supportive…I can’t remember when I joined. My great-grandfather was the first settler in Rockledge in 1869, and my family and I have lived in Rockledge or Cocoa ever since. I currently live in Cocoa. What's your inspiration when creating art? My inspiration depends on what I’m painting. I’m primarily a nature-landscape painter and when I paint either en plein air or from a photograph, I’m inspired by the beauty of the world. What's the best art gift you've received or given? The best art gift I received was an Escoda Prado cat's tongue watercolor brush, size 20. I've bought several since Ralph (at the art store) gave it to me and I have encouraged my students to use one. Great brush. Great gift. What short breaks - mental or physical - do you take to recharge? I love walking along the Indian River or visiting a nature park…but I’m also an avid reader Is there something you'd like to add here? One of my great joys has been teaching art, and I’ve recently returned from Uganda where I taught people from the largest slum in Kampala to paint. They had never held a crayon or a paint brush and their enjoyment was palpable! Susan is willing to do a presentation on her watercolor techniques and also her trip to Uganda at a future  What a busy February already & our Winter Art Show & Sale is next week - February 8-10 at the Cape Canaveral Public Library! The Summer Art Program is also being planned for June 3 -28! Registration form available for download on the Classes & Events page here on the website! There are classes always going on each week at the CBAA studio at 103 Barton Blvd in Rockledge so don't miss out on an opportunity to learn for wonderful, talented artsts!! "There are no musts in art because art is free." W. Kandinsky  |
CBAACentral Brevard Art Association - the premier art association in Brevard County Florida Archives
September 2024
Categories |
RSS Feed
Proudly powered by Weebly