Novelty Brooch Friday - February

This month there are 2 fantastic brooches to be given away by the wonderful Olivia of Desperate Beatnik.  You might have seen Olivia's work through her Etsy shop or her Instagram account @desperate_beatnik. Her distinctive work caught my eye with it's iconic symbols and sparkly finishes, I knew her work would be something special for those magpies out there. 

I hope you enjoy reading about Olivia, her work and a bit more about her background and inspirations.  Thank you Olivia for your time and for offering 2 people a brooch for February's Novelty Brooch Friday.

When did you start making jewellery?

I started making jewellery in 2013. But the ideas started when I had lost a green Bakelite clip in 2009, it was my all time favourite, and after each flea market, I thought I would never find one like it and naively thought I could make a copy. I had in mind this naïve project but procrastination always wins. I asked everyone around me if they could remake it and a few confetti earrings to match my Lucite purses, but no one was interested in remaking something that only I seemed to be passionate about.

In 2013 I separated from my partner during the holidays. I had nothing to do, I was too sad to go out with friends or to the beach. I really needed to do something with my hands and occupy my mind. So, I purchased materials. My green/yellow swirls earrings turned out as a total fiasco but not the confetti earrings and 45 rpm spindles I built. We didn’t have vintage glitter jewellery in France from the 50s, just a few pieces with sand and tiny seahorse or 80s confetti clip-ons not "period correct". Inspiration came very quickly. It was a little bit "mystic". I feel a spiritual force pushes me to work more and literally speaks to me. This "inspiration" pushed me to post on social media. I resisted during the following weeks as I didn’t think my pieces were good enough, but this "voice" literally keeps telling me to do it. So without self-confidence, I posted a picture. The "voice" was right, word spread, and other people liked them, I was the first person to make them in France and the 4th or the 5th worldwide. People want them !!!! I still can't believe it. It was incredible.

Do you have a favourite maker of jewellery?

Hard to reply to this question as there are too many !!! But being French myself, of course, I will say Léa Stein. I am so impressed by her work, each brooch is the quintessence of the figuration. For me it is the perfection.

What inspires your designs?

My inspiration is a mix of my personality and my too many passions. As a lady involved in the 50s music scene, I always spend my weekends in flea markets but as a leoness who likes everything that shines, exuberant baroque / ancient music and arts.... Well I could build a mesh/confetti jewellery parure to match one of my Lucite purses, as I could be inspired by the colour combo of venetian glass art work from the Renaissance . Well all those things are deep inside me and it comes up as a flow. I am a very prolific artist who doesn't really know the words "lack of inspiration" for a while. I build things with modern colour combinations that are full of joy, feminine and I like a pop of colour. Since the beginning, I took my work for a manifest for the Light. You will never see skulls or death symbols in my work. Our world is too dark to create macabre jewellery. My work is an ode to the Light.

Can you tell us a bit about the city you live and why you like to live there?

I live in Montpellier in South of France. I live here for professionals reasons. Yes I have a day job, my jewellery can't feed me. I am too honest, plus I am a very bad business lady ha ha. I offer too much, but I do not care, I am a beatnik. I love working with my hands and turn projects into real things. My jewels help me to put gas in my peanut tank. My town has a nice situation on the Mediterranean coast. I am not far away from my favourite Spanish 50s festival, we have nice curvy roads in the countryside for motorcycling and above all we have sea and sun !!! I know it is a privilege to ride in January in front of the sea on a cold but sunny day and stop to eat oysters. It is not California but one of the sunniest place in France.

Is there some advice you could give someone starting his or her own business?

Ha ha my best advice to someone who wants to start their own business??? Ha ha it is a joke???? Where is the hidden camera??? Well seriously, what I will say is that I too often under evaluate my work and sell with little profit. Only enough to pay French taxes and the price of the materials (the hours of work should be included in the price).
My second piece of advice is to develop your own network of shops and markets.
And my third piece of advice is be careful not to burn out if you already have a job. Manage time for you and your family.
In conclusion believe in you, everybody has something different and special inside him/her, our modern society really doesn't help for that but believe me everybody has the Light inside him/her. So as I always say: "Go Go Gorilla" !!! 

Here is the brooch you could win, and as I said there are 2 up for grabs!

All you have to do is take a photo of yourself with one of your brooches and use the hashtag #noveltybroochfriday on any Friday in February to be in with a chance. The winners will be announced on Monday 2nd March.

If you're a brooch maker/designer or vintage seller of brooches and would like to donate a beautiful brooch to the giveaway and have your shop featured, please email me with a little info about your designs and shop and hopefully i'll get you a spot on the calendar.  

tunabake at hotmail dot com