Cheryl Bibeau
Owner, Designer, Artisan
Cheryl(at)eclecticmetalsmith.com
Danielle Bibeau
Eclectic Representative
My daughter, Danielle, travels throughout California and Nevada and joins me to work with gift shops, galleries, and boutiques in the western United States. If you would like to talk with her about carrying Eclectic Metalsmith items in your shop, gallery, or boutique, please contact her at danielle@eclecticmetalsmith.com. She drives a white VW '82 Westie with MA plates and adult-sized hula-hoops bunjy-corded to the back of her bus. If you want great jewelry in your shop, to take up hooping again, or just like talking about air cooled engines, she's a great person to meet! Don't let me forget to mention that she designs and creates eclectic clothing too ( www.tribalfusion.etsy.com ). Sometimes the "apple doesn't fall far from the tree".
Danielle@eclecticmetalsmith.com
THE Art Jewelry Collective
FEATURED ARTIST
1. Tell us a little about yourself (name, location, short background). Are you a full time designer or do you also have a “regular” job?
My first metalsmith class was a way to spend quality time with my college age daughter, Danielle. After two classes together, metals became irresistible and I have continued classes and working with metal ever since. Of all the metals, I find copper warm and ever changing. I can make it soft and malleable; I can make it strong and supportive. As a part-time metalsmith, copper and I are still learning all that we can do together.
I currently etch designs in copper in my central Massachusetts studio. The etched copper is formed into a variety of jewelry and useful items. Especially enjoyable is creating new etching designs for cuff bracelets, and rings.
2. What led you to choose your company name? Is there any hidden significance?
When customers hear or see my company name, I want them to have an idea of what to expect from me. Metalsmith was easy. What needed thought was an adjective that is interesting and, as my skills continue to develop, would allow me to grow and create in ways I haven’t even thought of yet. I love creative problem solving. Eclectic explains how I work to solve a problem. In taking a taking a variety of what may seem unrelated ideas, I can create something extraordinary. My tag line then became “Metals in Extraordinary Designs”.
3. What led you to start designing jewelry? Did you attend school to learn your craft, or are you “self-taught”?
I have been crafting since I crocheted my doll, “Jiffy Ann” at the age of nine. From there I learned a number of fiber arts from knitting, to sewing, and a variety of needlecraft skills. I generally learned the basics in a class and became self taught as I became more proficient. In central Massachusetts, we have the Worcester Center for Crafts (www.Worcestercraftcenter.org), where the public can develop skills in several craft areas. Classes, workshops, and seminars cover all skill levels from beginner through professional. My first formal craft classes were in woodworking. When I wanted to spend time with my daughter, I thought that she would prefer to make some jewelry – I signed us both up for the beginning jewelry class. As they say...the rest is history!
4. What inspires you to create? Describe your design process.
I feel excited by seeing or picking up something unusual and asking myself – “What can I do with this”? The possibilities start rolling around in my mind and a visual picture begins to form. As I begin to pull together the parts to make my vision real, I continually revise that image so that in the real world my jewelry is comfortable, beautiful, and durable.
5. What is your personal style and how is that reflected in your designs? What is your favorite material to work with? What is your favorite color?
I like simple, basic forms. Those forms become interesting and unique by adding an unusual twist in the design. For instance, my cuff bracelets begin as a simple sheet of metal. What is unusual is the technique of etching the metal and the wide variety of designs that I offer. In fact, if a customer has a black and white line design, I can etch that custom design onto copper, brass, bronze, and even silver.
I love copper because it is so versatile. In its softer annealed state, I can move the metal in many ways. As I hammer it, it becomes stronger and less flexible. By hammering it longer, I could even make it hard enough that bending the metal could cause it to crack.
Copper also has many faces. When it is clean, bright, and shiny, it is a lovely warm pink color. With natural oxidation, the warm pink begins to take on orange overtones. There are many color shifts as the pink becomes a coral color then a salmon color followed by a darker orange and the metal’s surface settles into a warm brown patina. Silver polish or ketchup (or any salty acidic paste or fluid) easily removes the patina and the copper is bright, shiny, and pink again.
While I like a wide variety of bright and warm colors, not surprisingly, my favorite colors are coral, salmon, and warm pink. Lime green, bright yellow, and tomato red are great too.
6. Pop culture trends; do you love them and follow them, or do you loathe them and do your own thing? Do you follow the color forecasts?
My work is a little more traditional than something that goes in and out of style as quickly as pop culture trends. At times, I will add a variation of pop culture to a design to add that unexpected touch. Most of us are influenced to some degree by the world around us and pop culture is a fun part of that world.
I find that I am always looking for a color that I can’t find….until next year. Therefore, while I don’t follow color forecasts, I do find that I’m slightly ahead of the curve. I do my own thing in the sense that I work with metals and colors that I like. Therefore, I am far more likely to make something using warm colors like yellow and salmon rather than cool blues. That is also why I enjoy working in copper.
7. Describe your clientele.
My clientele comes from a wide variety of age groups and both sexes. They are generally looking for traditional designs with an interesting flair. What they all have in common is an appreciation for finely crafted metal.
8. Can one ever have too much jewelry?
One never has enough jewelry! Jewelry can complete the plainest outfit and it can show how you feel that day. A lovely piece of handcrafted art puts a smile on my face and in my heart each time I look at it. If I am wearing that handcrafted art, I’m smiling all day and, or night. The more jewelry the more smiles…and I really like to smile.
9. What are your personal/business goals? Any New Years resolutions? Where do you see yourself in 1 month, 1 year, 10 years?
I’m a big believer in “there is no time like the present” and waiting for New Year’s resolutions doesn’t work for me. I have spent a great deal of time over the last couple of months developing the inventory, displays, and sales tools to give my daughter the ability to represent my jewelry as she travels the west coast for the next year or so.
In the next few months, I will be building the wholesale side of my business. In a year or so, I hope to have enough income to afford to start paying myself a small salary (drawing a salary is tough for most start-up businesses). Within in 5 years I’d like to bring Danielle into the Eclectic Metalsmith full time and hope to grow the business large enough to support both of us.
10. Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers? Do you have any other talents? What else do you do besides designing jewelry?
Previously, I was a product manager for several large companies selling laboratory products to life science researchers. Product managers run businesses within large companies by being responsible for a group of the company’s products. As the owner, designer, and artisan of the Eclectic Metalsmith I am now all of the company areas that I worked with as a product manager. As a person who loves variety and wearing many hats Me, Myself and I find being Purchasing, Research and Development, IT, Manufacturing, Quality Control, Technical Support, Sales, Marketing, Accounting, Advertising, Administration, and in charge of the Mail Room interesting and challenging. In addition, while “I” has a difficult reach to pat “Myself” on the back for a job well done, the short commute is great and the meetings to attend are in my mind.
11. Lastly, where can one purchase your designs? What are the price ranges? What are your three favorite pieces, and why are they your favorites?
As many people like to see and touch my jewelry before they buy, the best places to purchase my designs are in gift shops and boutiques that carry my designs. A list of these businesses is on the home page of my web site: www.EclecticMetalsmith.com. www. Eclecticmetalsmith.com is for customers who want more information about my jewelry, techniques, newest designs, copper, and me.
My designs are available in a wide range of prices. Etched cuff rings generally start at less than twenty dollars and my most expensive one of a kind design (OOAK in artisan’s lingo) with cabochons that I have cut from rough stone can be several hundred dollars. As they are affordably priced, my most popular items are etched cuff bracelets and earrings. These jewelry items generally run between twenty and thirty five dollars.
My favorite Designs:
Celtic Dragon Cuff Bracelet - I purposely chose and modified the etching design for my Celtic Dragon Cuff Bracelet to emphasize the Dragon’s interesting shape. With my jeweler’s saw (it looks very similar to a coping saw and is used the same way), I hand cut around the entire outside edge of the design. I then hand file the edges so that the metal is smooth and won’t catch fabric or the wearer’s skin as they enjoy wearing it. The shape is so interesting and eye catching that it makes me smile.
Sterling Silver and Jasper Pendant (OOAK) - I love free form cabochons. The art in hand cutting a cabochon is to cut it in a size and shape that makes the natural designs and colors in the rough stone come alive. I purchased this jasper already cut in this simple and interesting shape. The way the lapidary artist cut the stone to emphasize the brown color flowing into the grey green area is just beautiful. This stone “asked” to be set in a clean bezel setting. The bail needed to be minimal as well and the simple coil of a patterned half-round wire adds the right amount of interest. If you wore this pendant, you would see many smiles around you. That would include your smile as you put it on and looked at yourself in the mirror.
I hope you have enjoyed the story of the Eclectic Metalsmith,
Smilingly,
Cheryl Bibeau
the Eclectic Metalsmith
www.eclecticmetalsmith.com
Cheryl@eclecticmetalsmith.com