Article by Nanette Wiser
Wendy Costa
I discovered St. Pete newcomer Wendy Costa on Facebook. Her whimsical paintings mesmerized my imagination. “Sometimes you’re the windshield and sometimes you’re the fairy mistaken for the bug,” welcomes you to her FB page. Delicate shoes a la Kinky Boots, midnight dragonflies, artichoke gowns and elegant ladies sipping café, her drawings are a mix of Chagall and Chopin – both dreamy and elegant.
Costa started her design business in 1987 in upstate New York. After completing her degree in fine art, she started her business hand painting porcelain clay; 35 years later, her studio has seen many transitions, latest of which is a move to Saint Petersburg. Her historic Gothic church studio has been featured in design and studio magazines such as “Where Women Create.” Her art has been purchased by the Smithsonian, the Hudson group, DSW, Neiman Marcus, Disney, Nordstrom, Selfridge’s of London, Ben & Jerry’s, and numerous galleries & stores worldwide.
Costa prints her original illustrations onto fabric, ceramic tile, handbags, and home decor. Everything is sewn & made in her studio using suppliers exclusively from the USA, and machines from Troy & Gloversville factories long gone. Recently she partnered with a sculptor, turning her 2-D images into 3-D. Wendy hopes to set up shop in the newly opened Factory and create art-themed installations and multimedia happenings. www.Wendycosta.com. (Featured image by Wendy Costa.)
Margo Hammond
A writer’s writer, Margo is well known as a book whisperer, writing teacher (Eckerd OLLI) and all-around artsy journalist with a penchant for jewelry as memory. Very clever idea that my 94-year-old mother resuscitated at her assisted living as a discussion group. I am hooked on Bijoux Bios by Hammond and fellow lover of stories Jaye Ann Terry and follow them on FB and their free e-newsletter; sign up at www.bijouxbios.blogspot.com.
Hammond and Terry believe that every piece of jewelry has a story, and like StoryCorps, their blog celebrates both a life well lived and a bygone era. Their interviews are thoughtful and illuminating. In one blog on watches, they write: “I’ve worn a watch every day for as long as I can remember, usually in the Timex family. I’ve always had a watch and used as the primary way to tell time even after I could use my phone for that purpose as well. But I never thought of watches collectible jewelry – until I interviewed Paul Brown about his watch collection.”
“The real value of the jewelry is the connection they have with our parents,” said Brown in the blog, quoted in part here: Paul Brown received his first watch, a digital, when he was seven or eight, but his fascination with watches began with a Swatch. Remember the Swatch? Launched in 1983 in Switzerland, the Swatch product line – Swatch is a contraction of “second watch” – was offered as casual, disposable accessories. The originals (different models are still offered by the Swatch Group) had an open case back, a transparent cover on the backside of the watch that allowed you to see the inner workings of the movement.
Brown’s collection now includes six watches valued at more than $20,000. They are unique, automatic wind-ups as opposed to the quartz watches most of us wear that run on batteries.
“That watch was enormous on my wrist,” Paul recalls. “Honestly, it was a bit of a status symbol. As a young guy, I wanted to wear it to impress my friends.” Paul’s dad got the Omega Constellation for his father during his tour as a Marine sniper in Vietnam. When Paul’s grandfather died, his father inherited the watch and now it’s been passed down to Paul. And the Rolex? His dad gave it to him on his wedding day in 2002. Paul was 24. His dad passed away six years later.