A great mix to start your day with this Caramel Frappuccino and Cinnamon Roll – Earrings. A cuteness match with 0 calories in which both comes with a realistic fillings on top.
Delight your eyes with this Strawberry Frappuccino and Raspberry Scone in stud Earrings version! This earring was exclusively made for Maria Furqi.
Grab yourself of this Fruity Ice Cream Cones – Earrings which comes with its realistic fillings on top and tiny cute realistic slices of fruit. Wear this with your cooler summer outfit.
Another ice cream to seize is the Ice Cream - Stud Earrings. Fill with a milk ice cream, chocolate fudge and colorful tiny sprinkles! Try not to eat them.
Think God is Friday and its Pizza day with friends! Grab a piece of this Mushroom Pizza – Earrings that looks mouthwatering in your ear. Fill with realistic toppings in a minuscule size.
A perfect wear for a perfect springtime picnic snack. One of the artist favorite is the Tuna Sandwich – Earrings. Simple and classy yet incredibly tasty!
Now, lets turn our attention to our featured artist for a juicy interview:
Jane: Tell us about yourself, your location, your job and your goals.
Jessica Montanelli:I’m 21 years old and I live in the countryside in Tuscany (Italy). In my whole life I’ve always been attracted by art in all its ways! I began when I was very little with drawing and painting, then I improved with pencil portraits. Then the music, I love it as my life and I play guitar and piano and I sing. When I was 17 I began sewing my own clothes and Victorian corsets and dresses from sketches, but even plushies, bags and more.
Then I started using polymer clay and it took my heart and it’s what I’m actually doing as my job is to teach in a polymer clay class. And then I sell worldwide my jewels and my ebook! My goal is to earn enough money to realize my biggest dream: Move and live in Los Angeles (CA) for ever! I always dreamed the United States since I was a baby and now I’m sure I want to realize it! And well.. Another passion I have is the showbusiness and I’d love to become a comedy actress!
Jane: How did you start doing jewelry (or beadmaking) as a business?
Jessica Montanelli: I discovered the art of polymer clay in 2002 and it was just a game (as I was quite little) but when in 2008 I saw some REALLY cool pictures around the web of super-duper-realistic miniatures I knew I needed to improve myself! And I love challenges.. So I started doing more and more difficult stuff.. (Actually I’m still on the way to become a better artist!) And after few months in 2008 I had a chance to teach in a polymer clay class in a hobby&arts shop and I still “work” there sometimes. But The greatest thing is that now I’m able to sell worldwide my jewelry and it excites me A LOT! I even sell some of my tutorials and I wrote an ebook for polymer clay beginners available in Italian and English.
Jane: Every artist has a personal "creative process", can you explain yours?
Jessica Montanelli: Well, the word “process” makes me thing about something like a schedule or something like that.. That I don’t follow anything similar! I only follow my heart and my creativity. Sometimes it happens that I see a yummy picture of food around the web and usually I satisfy (or increase) my hunger creating it in miniature. I love making food miniatures! One time I watched a movie about a girl working in a diner and making different and yummy cakes all day long. After that movie I so wanted those cakes that I made them all in polymer clay! Inspirations comes in the most unexpected ways.. J
Jane: When people start doing jewelry, they tend to try a lot of different things before settling down to something that resonates with them, tell us how has your jewelry work changed since you began? Wheeee it changed a lot!
Jessica Montanelli:At first I began with simple things; I remember my very first bracelet which has had a donut, a cupcake, a star, a cookie and a gingerbread man who broke after few days. They were really easy and stylized shapes.. Just like kids do! But after a few time I started improving and improving trying lots of different shapes and techniques, I even did “abstract” jewelry for a while and now I refuse to make them again for any reason! Because I discovered my true passion: REALISM! And food.. Well I always loved sweets and food! :D The only difficult thing is to try to make things that nobody else does (there is a lot of competition! :P).
Jane: Can you share with us a some jewelry making or design tips?
Jessica Montanelli: Well, in my case the tip for this kind of jewelry is to always keep in front of you a picture of the real food and so try to make it similar as much as possible! Find the right shade, work that piece of clay adding crumbs of related colors until you have the PERFECT shade! Don’t give up with the first which is “quite similar”, colors are important! And finally, take a look at the proportions! People will notice the difference.. ;)
Jane: If you teach, where will you be teaching this year?
Jessica Montanelli:I teach in my polymer clay class in a hobby&arts shop in my city and I “teach” with my ebook “Learn and Create” and with my tutorials, both available at my website! And well, I hope that soon I’ll be teaching somewhere in LA! J
Jane: Do you write jewelry making tutorials? Tell us more about it...What is your plan in tutorial writing?
Jessica Montanelli: Yes I write tutorials! I love to teach and to share with the world my passion and my experience! But as for I don’t have much time lately I “only” do custom tutorials on commission; people simply tell me which charm they’d like to make and I create a full tutorial for them, for sale in my website!
more..
Have a glimpse of Jessica Montanelli's clay jewelry designs at the following sites:
Website:
www.jeyam-art.com
www.etsy.com/shop/Jeyam5
jeyam-pclay.deviantart.com/gallery/
Thanks Jessica for sharing your story with us!
