ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Christine Lorenzo

• Tell us a little bit about your shoppe.  SariBlue was established a little less than a year ago, unambiguously after a lifetime of seeking out something for me to sink my creative teeth into. Having lived a creative life vicariously through others with passionate artistic admiration for film, art, music and fashion while working in a world of international high-tech, I had finally found something calling to me in the historic Nazar Boncuk, The Evil Eye Bead. SariBlue is a fun, hip, wear-it-everyday jewelry collection centered on the power and theory of this universally recognizable symbol.  I began crafting earthy bohemian style jewelry with a bit of an industrial edge to some of the pieces, centered on the fascinating bead, one in every piece of my collection. The SariBlue collection (Sari is pronounced “sutter” in Turkish meaning blonde/blondie/yellow; my nickname) uses exclusive Turkish handmade glass beads which are made using centuries old traditional methods. One truly important element about the beads is the crafting process of this special glass art; it may be one of the oldest eco-friendly recycling methods around. Turkish artisans collect and recycle glass and melt it in their furnaces that burn low-carbon pine logs in order to shape the glass, fuse them together and create these amazing beads using only simple hand tools. Every bead fashioned has its own identity, lending every SariBlue piece its own distinctive nature.

• What is your favorite product in your shoppe and why?   I love to create new pieces, my favorite is currently the “ONE” Pendant I made for The Artisan Group Luxury Lounge hosted by GBK Productions in honor of The 2012 Golden Globes. The glass bead is an over-sized Nazar Boncuk in the traditional colour scheme, on a copper head pin with a coloured tip, silver Bali style beads, silver chain and various coloured tiny fancy glass beads. I wear one everyday myself and just love it! 

• When you’re not handcrafting your funky-fun jewelry line, what are your hobbies?   
  I have found that what I become passionate about tends to overtake my life, so these days I don’t have much free time. I have two small girls; G is 7 and M is 9. Every minute I am not working on the shop or business I am with the girls and engaged with what is important for them. I coach G’s co-ed soccer team. But by no means am I a soccer Mom, (LOL) I am a mom, they play soccer and that’s the extent of it, no minivan for me (a mini cooper convertible instead). I am normally running up the field in a skirt, great earrings with some type of super cute shoes on, because no matter where you are you must look fab! The poor boys on the team wonder why I look so fancy! I love kids and try to volunteer in the school as much as I can, getting to know teachers and your community is important and being another positive adult that is visible for kids really makes a difference in their perception of the world. I am by default a realist but not by nature! By nature I am a romantic dreamer: good people deserve good things and the basic principle of karma.

• What do you like best about The Artisan Group? The Artisan Group for me has been such a fantastic opportunity, the best being that so many people in our lovely team look at our little universe in a similar way. We want goodness to happen to good people. We want to share ideas and help one another. I do realize that perhaps this sounds a little kumbaya-ish, but it is utterly sincere. I have a lot of respect for Valerie and Nikki; it is no small feat to pull together a talented group of people who have their own agenda in the front of their minds, yet are so willing to support group efforts and promote others in the meantime. Having a vision and the ability to execute on this level of detail with two people is extraordinary. My long-winded answer of what I enjoy most about TAG is the team itself, such a lovely group of people who seem to click on so many levels, work together remotely while helping to invest in each other’s success is motivating and humbling. I feel really proud to be associated with my TAG teammates and proud of what we can accomplish. When one of us is super successful it is joy for us all, never seen anything like it!

Christine recently participated as a display participant in a luxury celebrity gift lounge on January 13-14, 2012 at the L’Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, in honor of the The 2012 Golden Globes Nominees and Presenters.