I haven’t featured an Etsy artist in a while, simply for the fact that I’ve been inundated with other projects but I still love unearthing talented Southern designers and artists to feature here. When Lacey Dupre, an environmental scientist from Lafayette, Louisiana contacted me about Slow Southern Style I was delighted to share her handiwork with y’all. Here’s what she had to say:
I’m from Louisiana and adore the swamps. I fnd a lot of inspiration while I’m canoeing or atop my stand-up paddleboard. The sunsets on the Atchafalaya Basin amaze me, with the creaking cypress and dripping moss and I draw lots of inspiration from them. Aside from the grandeur of nature, I get most of my ideas in the spur of the moment. For example sometimes I could be conversing with someone and a picture morphs in my head, which turns into a ceramic piece or jewelry!
As a child, and throughout college I painted, then I became interested in ceramics and now I love making jewelry. I do all three now but my main focus is the jewelry. I use lots of natural materials: bone, claws, leather, amethyst chunks, deer antler slices, pyrite, clay, porcelaine, and fabric remnants. I also incorporate my ceramics into my jewelry; blending these disciplines causes me to dream and expand my collections.
My latest collection features Nutria fur! Yes, real, guilt-free fur. Nutria are an invasive species to our beautiful land here, they tear up the marshes and wetlands with their destructive feeding and are one of the biggest problems associated with coastal erosion. They roam free and wild until they are put to good use as food and clothing. Yep, food too! I’m with a collective called Righteous Fur in New Orleans and many of the other members make coats and hats and such.
My latest collection features Nutria fur! Yes, real, guilt-free fur. Nutria are an invasive species to our beautiful land here, they tear up the marshes and wetlands with their destructive feeding and are one of the biggest problems associated with coastal erosion. They roam free and wild until they are put to good use as food and clothing. Yep, food too! I’m with a collective called Righteous Fur in New Orleans and many of the other members make coats and hats and such.
Aside from my art, I am an Environmental Scientist and an aspiring Practicioner of Chinese Medicine. I also am really into slacklining, which is akin to tight rope walking combined with a trampoline. Traveling has also been a focal point of my life, I spent much time in Europe and recently, have been visiting Asian countries.
Visit Lacey online at www.laceydu.com, or one of her two Etsy shops, www.laceydu.etsy.com for handmade jewelry and vintage finds she discovers on her travels and www.atelierdu.etsy.com for Lacey’s fine art photogrpahy and prints.
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