Collaboration Station
There's been a new routine in the Elizabeth Sarah Collections studio lately and we wanted to fill everyone in on the exciting news from our Atlantic Beach headquarters!
There’s definitely always some sort of hustle going on between slinging bling and art, and this new project has us appreciating our craft and ability to adapt to different mediums more and more everyday.
Recently Elizabeths husband, Artist Philip Walker, got an amazing opportunity to create a collection and outfit a new commercial building, here in our beautiful city of Jacksonville, Florida. Kim Thompson, who is the interior designer on this project, thoughtfully paired Philips original artistic style with the wall decor, furniture and overall eclectic aesthetic of the office building.
This 35 piece collection is designed with tropical vibes in mind - take Philip's typical Florida beach and wildlife style and add a little jungle fever- and this new collection is what you've got! It's eye-catching features show off exciting bright new color schemes and scenes of exotic plants and animals, embellished with gold detail. Philips original style is still very much applied in this collection though, as he mixes in underlying layers of colors and patterns beneath the individual images.
While these originals are spoken for, prints are available in multiple sizes at philipbennettwalker.com.
Elizabeth has always been artistically talented, showing off her creativity in many different forms before Elizabeth Sarah Collections was founded. She used to paint all the time before she learned how to make jewelry professionally back in 2002, and she even used to make her own stained glass in college. Basically, her creativity is ever flowing when it comes to the arts.
So naturally, she's the best wing-woman to help Philip work on this project, putting down layers of paint, taping off edges, and critiquing certain points that need work. This is the first time that she and Philip are collaborating on a project of this scale and professionalism and hopefully won’t be the last! With a natural eye for color, she also picked out the paint swatches and color combinations for each painting. It was a new way for her to channel her creativity outside of the jewelry world. But she can’t stay away from the office long enough - all the new colors for the paintings put her brain into overdrive.
Getting to work with a new medium and a different perspective has launched tons of new ideas for Elizabeth & her jewelry line. Throughout each workday when Elizabeth pops in to take a break from painting, she'll guide me on a new idea she’s had, check inventory, fulfill web orders, or focus on her social media presence and customer service. As far as new ideas go, we’ve got some stunner designs-Stay tuned for new shop updates that feature dangly single-layer gemstone filled necklaces, as well as new chain designs we've been keeping up our sleeve, and of course plenty more surprises we don't want to spoil!;)
With the continuous growth of the dynamic duos company, I have personally gotten the opportunity to take on a new role as Philips Art Manager. Elizabeth has been doing it for almost 20 years and was ready for a lil extra help in the day to day, which is great for me because it provides more opportunity in the Elizabeth Sarah Collections Family. The new additions to the daily hustle entail, keeping up with his current inventory and wholesale accounts, getting invoices prepared for our awesome framers, and blogging for him, which I am looking forward too because we have some funny stories to tell!
For all of us, being able to switch gears/responsibilities on the spot - as clients can make an appointment or a custom request at the drop of a hat - is a major part of how our team work makes the dream work. Basically, we jump when you say how high and we will always work together to make a customer happy.
Being able to work together is just the tip of the iceberg though. Although we all got along from the start, adapting quickly into new roles and learning to work around one another in new ways is just another element to add to the business. Our cohesive cooperation is honestly what I love most about us three amigos and when you love what you do (and who you work with!) it never really feels like work.
**Stay tuned to hear about the next stages of Philips latest project that inspired this blog, and for the ESC fans - let us know what’s on your holiday gifting list for you and your loved ones (yes its that time of year already), and shop our updated collections here on the site or in studio via appointment.
