Downtown Tucsonan - November 2008 - (Page 9)

Vital Signs express my talent. I began designing jewelry and furniture simultaneously but the furniture was more difficult. I have to have a showroom, somewhere tangible where people can see and touch it. so the jeweler seemed the most reasonable way to start. People are always interested in my personality (from the book readings) and that was an important part of my genesis. I walk it, I talk it and I’m my own “house” model and I make it very accessible.” she is an intellectual force and in today’s celebrity cult of personality, she is her own product. Her greatest exposure has come from the Mahlia account with saks Fifth avenue. after making a presentation to the new York headquarters in 2004, she did her first trade show in February 2005. Right away, major magazines in the industry began looking at her work. Her jewelry collection has a strong sense of continuity. the story line is that it’s from the ancient Mediterranean yet highly styled. “It’s not that I’m not in the right markets. I’m really looking for the right support system. Each store has a separate manager and you need to be attuned to their tastes and needs. Retail administrators are sometime transient and I have to start the relationship all over again. I do a show almost every month. saks Fifth avenue in texas is my biggest market, followed by california; I’m still trying to make inroads into Florida. Fortunately, the Phoenix manager embraces my work intellectually and I had my first show with them just two weeks ago. at the same time I did a book signing at Borders,” she said. Konstantina’s tucson connection comes from being an artist who needs space that renews and energizes her creativity. “tucson is more about the landscape not the urbanscape and I think a lot of great art draws from nature. there’s certain serenity to the desert, which is different from where I grew up. one of the reasons that I stayed in tucson is because I work with many of the artists here. the producers of tucson 12’s D-Town are telling me that the music scene here in tucson will soon outstrip austin.” artists are migrating here is because when you’re starting out you don’t have a lot of money for expensive space. the reason that I have so many local artists working on my furniture is because tucson is an economical place to live, the climate is amiable for being productive year around, and you don’t have to struggle with weather. a lot of artistic climates tend to be where it’s comfortable, where you can walk around in a very casual way, live in a casual way. that’s what santa Fe was — the same for the south of France; now I think it could be happening here. Lately I’m meeting a lot of very accomplished creative people from all kinds of urban areas who are now making tucson ground zero.” In her book she wrote, ‘All creatures are happiest where they are understood and give a voice to their experience and have people identify with it. It really doesn’t matter where you’re from or how you’ve grown up.’ she concluded, “I’m still trying to give a voice to who I am.” photo by Balfour Walker Visit the Mahlia Collection’s website at: www.mahliacollection.com november.08. downtown tucsonan 9 http://www.mahliacollection.com http://www.providenceinstitute.com http://www.providenceinstitute.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Downtown Tucsonan - November 2008

Downtown Tucsonan - November 2008 Contents Downtown Lowdown Vital Signs Downtown Live Arts Galleries Performing Arts Events Film Historic Downtown Museums Billboard Classifieds

Downtown Tucsonan - November 2008

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