Svetlana Dubinsky
Meet the Designer-Artist
Where do you live?
I live in Israel, near Jerusalem, in a small sunny town called Beit Shemesh, which means the House of the Sun.
What inspires you as a designer-artist?
I am inspired to create my works primarily by interesting materials - beads of unusual shapes, seed beads of interesting hues, glass and ceramic handmade cabochons and beads, gemstones. Of course, everything that surrounds us inspires me as well - a flower, a butterfly, a dragonfly, leaves on a tree branch, the sea, the stars, an artist's painting - anything can be an incentive for inspiration.
What medium do you work with mostly?
In my works, I usually combine my favorite techniques – which are bead embroidery, peyote and brick stitch. I make several separate elements, and then I assemble them into one piece, or I embroider the base with seed and crystal beads, and then attach separate bead weaving elements to it.
Why did you become enchanted with this style of jewelry-making?
It seems to me that a piece assembled from elements made with different techniques looks more interesting and more prominent. Moreover, when you assemble a work like a mosaic, you will never get two identical pieces of jewelry. I also just really love the process itself of embroidery and weaving, it cheers me up and relaxes me.
Where and how do you sell your jewelry?
As long as making jewelry is not my main job, I sell a little, mostly to my friends, and sometimes give it as a present to close friends. But I plan to quit my main job soon, and dream of only creating jewelry, then I hope that I can sell more.
What is the name of the piece you submitted with your success story?
What inspired this design?
I have dreamed of creating a necklace in the Art Nouveau style, and as it is known, this is a style which is characterized by flowing lines, natural colors, flora and fauna. The artists of this trend in art were inspired by nature itself - climbing plants, buds and exotic flowers, insects and birds. When I started a work, I had a rough sketch of the necklace, a certain color scheme and materials that might be needed to materialize my idea, but in the course of creation many things changed in accordance with the technical capabilities and artistic implementation of my task.