GUEST INTERVIEW: FANTASY ARTIST DONNA ANTONUCCI

Hello everyone!

        For years you have wondered who is responsible for the lovely artwork that accompanies Kirks Folly jewelry and accessories. This week we interview one of the wonderful artists who share their creative talent with us. We are extremely pleased to have as our guest this week, gifted fantasy artist:

                    DONNA ANTONUCCI 

Please welcome her warmly as she shares the inspirations for her magical artwork. Welcome Donna, and thank you for bravely agreeing to be the first guest of our new blog. Let’s get started.

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN CREATING ART?

I’ve been creating art for as long as I can remember. I've drawn since I was a small child; my mom said I was always doodling on everything!

ARE YOU SELF TAUGHT OR DID YOU STUDY ART IN SCHOOL?

I am self-taught but my high school art teacher influenced me greatly and we remain friends to this day.

                                                                                      WHAT INSPIRES YOUR ARTWORK?

Created from real life visitor!

Click here to see this splendid Halloween-inspired work!

So many things inspire me. Nature, with a twist…animals! I love animals so much! They bring me great joy. My yard feels like home to the Mama deer and fawns who visit my yard everyday in the spring, and they stay year round! I love the chipmunks I’ve been able to get to come up and hand peanuts to! I love to pick dried up flowers and pods and find beauty in the dead ones. I especially love dried poppy pods and dead ferns! Lol…I love sparkles and purple and wings....  The moon and stars, anything Egyptian and Marie Antoinette or Dark and Gothic. My collection of Gothic Dolls inspires me to be creative. I love to make props for them.

Halloween inspires me too, the whimsical, fun silly side—not the gory, gross or scary. I love to make hats and headpieces and my Halloween costumes. I love to embellish ordinary things and make them more fabulous!! Lots of glitter of course!

Beautiful bejeweled Angel Dog (Commissioned piece)

The older I get the more I like the dark side of things. I have an overactive imagination, which is not necessarily a good thing and I am always thinking of things!! Sometimes I don't know where the ideas for my art come from... They sometimes just seem to magically  appear! All of the things that inspire me, seem to have a place somehow.... somewhere in my art work!

ARE ALL YOUR WORKS RELATED TO FANTASY?
Most of my work is fantasy related. I do draw realistic animals: wildlife, pet portraits…but the animals may have wings! Seems like everything gets wings!!! My medium is colored pencil mixed media and colored pencil with watercolor and acrylic. I also use an airbrush on Stonehenge or Canson Mi Tienes paper. I love drawing fairy animals the most, but I do love drawing all fantasy creatures: fairies, mermaids unicorns and on and on!

Such beautifully detailed work, with so many hidden treasures to find!

HOW DID YOU COME TO PRODUCE ART FOR KIRK’S FOLLY?

Gorgeous mermaid and dolphin!

I first saw Kirks Folly on QVC while I was channel surfing. I spied this most Magical Jewelry and the most Fanciful sets and costumes and beautiful Jennifer showing off the jewels. I jumped around the room saying OH My God!! What is this?? Who makes this?? I have to know!! It was love at first sight!

This was back in the early 90's…SO my memory isn’t so good, but I think I called the factory and asked if I could send in some of my art and if they would be interested. I remember calling Ann Marie Couto, who was designing the costumes, and I said, ‘I want to paint fairy wings.’ The next thing you know I was in RI, staying at Ann Marie's house and painting fairy wings and things! They were for the costumes to be used in the next QVC Enchanted Garden, Fairy Tea show!! It was a wonderful experience to spend time with the Kirks and with Ann Marie and I have many fond memories!!!

WHAT ARE YOUR OTHER INTERESTS?

I collect Dolls! I started with Barbies, and now I collect Evangeline Ghastly from a company called Wilde Imagination. I also collect gothic, fairy and mermaid dolls. I’m interested in just about anything that strikes my fancy... I love tiny little things, and Halloween. 

Wee owl

My studio has a lot of Halloween themed items and I just repainted it purple and restyled the whole thing. My studio is in my home...I love to take photos of the wildlife in my yard and also photograph my dolls and make props for them. Oh, and I can't forget—I spend time on Facebook! Feel free to send a friend request!! Lol

Fairy mouse-slideshow 

WHERE CAN WE SEE MORE OF YOUR ART?  

You can find my art for purchase on my Fan page on Facebook, I do take commissions occasionally. I hope to put things in my Etsy shop soon and I also  have my work in local galleries and gift shops!

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/pages/FAIRY-MAGIC-FANTASY-ART-by-DONNA-M-ANTONUCCI/104141176290401

ETSY: http://www.etsy.com/people/Fairymagic?ref=si_pr

This concludes our special guest interview. Donna, it’s been great having you here. Thank you for joining us and we hope you will continue to help us “Sparkle the World!”

Please check out Donna’s Facebook page to see more of her exciting work and  press that Like button if her work inspires you!
And please share your thoughts with us in the comment box below.

NEW DREAMSTONE SNEAK PEAK

Most of you are very familiar with our beautiful dreamstones, Seaview Moon, Dream Angel, Mermaid Memories, CloudWalker and Moon Shadow. This week we give you a sneak peek of our latest dreamstone, “Dream Skull” and share the inspiration behind its design.

After much debate as to what form our latest dreamstone should take, our team agreed we needed something that would embrace this fascinating age of technology while maintaining the Kirks Folly aesthetic.  

Sugar skull earrings

We’ve been incorporating skulls into the line for many years now and your response has become increasingly favorable. The appearance of skulls in fashion for over two decades has made the skull more than a trend. It’s become a classic symbol of strength, wisdom, fearlessness and  the front-runner of its many positive meanings is survival.
 Whether overcoming obstacles or coming through a difficult time, the skull is the new talisman for vitality and immortality.

 Simply put, wearing a skull says “I'm a survivor.”

1) The base model               2) The embellished model          3) The glass skull

It took our design team over two years to create this amazing glass skull. (1)We worked long hours on the initial metal model. (2)In traditional  Kirks Folly form we embellished the model with ivy, the symbol of enduring life.

Damien Hirst Skull

(3)Our design team was ecstatic over the completed metal model and waited anxiously for the glass pour. When the pieces arrived, we literally shrieked in joy and danced around the studio imaging all of the amazing jewelry we would create for you.

We love it! Please tell us what you think. 

Oops, almost forgot, The Dream Skull Collection will be available exclusively at Kirksfolly.com in May 2014.

“Sparkle the World!”

SECRETS FROM THE DESIGN DEPARTMENT; WHAT'S COMING UP IN 2014

Happy Valentine's Day everyone,  welcome to our new blog. 

Here we will post commentary, images and even videos that share some of the things which inspire  our design team. We may even post images of our works-in-progress. That's right, diamond in the rough sample pieces, which you may, in the future find on   kirksfolly.com,  amazon.com, QVC.com or QVCuk.com.

We're very excited to share our inspirations with you, because all of you have been very inspirational to us with wonderful design requests and stimulating ideas.  Many of you have found your way to our Pinterest boards where we display the images that inspire our designs alongside some of our finished pieces. We encourage you to follow us, as we are sure many of you have Pinterest boards that we would like to visit.  
And please follow our blog and definitely leave a comment if so inspired!

Heart shaped Sheet music garland !

Since it's Valentine's Day, we thought to share this DIY tutorial with you. Make  this wonderful garland and cherish the melody of Love  all year long! Click the link to learn how to make your very own heart-shaped garland. Of course, when we make our Sheet Music Garland, we'll toss a bit of fairy sparkle into the mix!

SPARKLE THE WORLD!