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The Art of Jennifer Weigel
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Artist Jennifer Weigel enjoys making hand-beaded necklaces and bracelets as a form of meditation. It allows her a chance to escape her thoughts for awhile and just focus on the act of creating something beautiful and individual. She prefers making single strand necklaces and simple jewelry to reflect an everyday elegance rather than making jewelry for a one-time soiree or event. She does, however, produce some multiple strand necklaces and more eclectic pieces to suit those tastes. Most of her necklaces reflect a sort of pattern of ebb and flow, often leading up to a simple semi-precious stone pendant.
Rarely does artist Jennifer Weigel make the exact same necklace twice since she wants each to hold its own as an independent artwork. She sees each necklace as having its own unique character and prefers not to make multiple necklaces of the same design. She would much rather incorporate one design and several different moods by using different materials in each necklace. She also enjoys manipulating materials in different ways to make a variety of unique necklaces with their own personalities & characteristics. A necklace should be an ultimate reflection of the personality of its wearer, and that, as such a reflection, a necklace should be a one-of-a-kind character.
Jennifer Weigel also does work based on commissions, for example, in the cases when her clientel has a certain color scheme in mind. She will do the same necklace more than once for certain types of things, such as a series of matching necklaces for bridesmaids in a wedding. However, she prefers not to recreate past designs except for the original necklace owner and is much more likely to elaborate on a new design with a similar mood or focal characteristic.
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"Two Women Whose Lives Are Intertwined"
Multi strand conceptual necklace featuring menstrual beads that count hypothetical days through ovulation & menstruation as a means of celebrating the natural female cycle. This piece was donated to the Museum of Menstruation. |
A multi-strand necklace with raw citrine focus |
Jennifer enjoys working with a combination of materials at once, incorporating semiprecious stones, wood, metal, glass, pearls, shell, bone and other beads. Usually, Jennifer tends to work with a combination of semiprecious stones and wood or glass. She makes many of the pendants she incorporates into the necklaces herself; hand-picking polished semi-precious stones from various specialty shops all over St. Louis. Consequently, several pendants incorporate stones not frequently seen in jewelry making. Jennifer also utilizes stones and shells she has found in her travels as pendants.
Artist Jennifer Weigel tries to price her jewelry reasonably according to affordability. She creates a nice, lasting product at a good price so that many people, who might not otherwise had been able to afford nice, hand-beaded semi-precious gemstone jewelry, can actually afford to purchase a great piece of jewelry artwork. Many of her necklaces range in price from $20 through $60, depending on the time spent creating the piece and the cost of the specific materials involved.
Jennifer Weigel especially enjoys being able to focus on making nice, one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry that reflect the wearer’s mood and that people will look forward to putting on, at a price that they won’t be afraid to wear them.
Born in Centralia, Illinois, Artist Jennifer Weigel currently lives in St. Louis, Missouri. She has a Bachelor's of Fine Art in Studio Art - Alternative Media from Webster University, St. Louis, MO.
See more of Jennifer Weigels art on her website. |
A single-strand necklace with cowrie shell pendant
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A single-strand necklace with wood focal beads |
A single-strand necklace wiith mahogany obsidian focal beads
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Below are original paintings & drawings by Artist Jennifer Weigel
$6.00 Buy it Now
TheLife Blood Exhibit is a group show exploring the theme of menstruation, organized by Jennifer Weigel.
Weigel invited several women artists to participate in a St. Louis show, and with their ideas and suggestions the show grew. Since then, the exhibit expanded to include a preview party and a full color catalog featuring artworks by the core group of thirteen women artists. The show traveled throughout the St. Louis region from 2010 – 2011 with each show featuring different artists more prominently. Travel nationally from 2011 – 2012, the show incorporating works created locally alongside of selections from the core group.
Why have a show about menstruation? Menstruation is still a taboo topic. Many women are ashamed of their bodies and feel dirty when they are menstruating. There are still many myths surrounding menstruation, and both normal and potentially life-threatening conditions are too often not discussed, leaving individual women to wonder whether or not anything is wrong. But menstruation shouldn’t been seen as something dirty, deviant or wrong - it is a natural function of the female body and provides evidence of women’s ability to carry children and to give birth to new life.
By drawing attention to the female body and to the menstrual cycle, artists are able to comment on this life-giving aspect of womanhood and to celebrate and/or show their discontent with their own bodies and cycles. Also in exploring this theme, artists are able to offer commentary on their experiences, confront stereotypes & assumptions and educate one another about things that are too often left unsaid.
For more information about this exhibit and the artists participating in it, visit http://www.lifebloodexhibit.com/project.html
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