Meet Jen! founder & owner

top panel text

...jen o'connor's...Artful Adventures & Daily Inspirations

I Love Art, Adore the Handmade and Treasure the Vintage. I am the Fun Mom, the Silly Friend and the Writer who wants to make more room for beauty in the everyday.

Visit my shop

Monday, August 4, 2008

getting ahead













I had a few folks e-mail me about my chaos and mess...one reminded me of this post about Dara, so I am re-posting it tonight..it captures my mood as I attempt to sort out, tidy up and get some of those items checked off the to do list!

....Yes, I am forever trying to get ahead just a wee bit...maybe catch up on my daily household chores, keep abreast of my children's assignments and social lives and squeeze in, perhaps 15 minutes, of reading at the end of the long day. When I meet these challenges in good cheer I feel like the "head girl".














My wonderful pal, and Earth Angels artist Dara is often in the same boat. As working Moms, we toss about quips of the day in shared camaraderie of the "to do", "oops, missed" and "to be done" before we make time to sleep a bit before it all starts itself over again. Dara made me this fabulous necklace for Christmas and I wear it merrily as a badge of honor!












We share good humor and a passion for old things. (See the story of how we met in a previous blog post called "...the wrong door".)
The latest batch of Dara's creations take the cake! They sing a sassy song of shared sentiment.
Thanks Dara for melding your literary fascination, with your love of old dolls, metal and the odd object.












Here's Dara at work in her studio...she is much like a mad scientist concocting a brew of findings, word and image.





















Dara has amassed a huge colelction of findings, bakelite and doll heads in her 20 years of passionate collecting and creating.












And the award goes to...Dara DiMagno for using her head!
Your work deserve recognition for it's message and your methods are magnificent...earning you your nicknames, "Dara DiFabulous" and "Dara DiMagnificent".
And whenever I am feeling truly overwhlemed, I call Dara and we put our heads together and...well we do what friends do for each other...chat, coach and console....
xxoo Jen

16 comments:

oldflowers4me said...

gasp-oh my- dara's jewellery is divine- i even love the name- head girls- there little salt or pepper crowns are so gorgeous-thank you jen for show ing these fantastic photos-we just dont have this here in australia -singing and skipping love jo.

Jo James said...

I LOVE these!!
Drool!

Jennifer Lanne said...

Dara is the girl with the most cake!! I wanna go play at her house....!

Diane Duda said...

Brilliant!

xo
Di

Dara said...

Jen, thanks so much!!! I have so much fun thinking of cool ways to use the old doll parts in my jewelry!!!

Jennifer Lanne you can come and pley in the madness anytime!! :)

Love,
Dara

Theresa said...

I love Dara's necklaces... I always find myself looking at them whenever Jen has a party. I can't help but be drawn to them. I think it's because they remind me of the 1920's and 1930's era which I adore.

Hugs,

Theresa

Anonymous said...

I've got to tell you that my husband once asked Dara if she was opening a doll hospital! I don't know if she envisioned then what she might do with all those heads,arms, legs, etc, not to mention a multitude of other old items she had collected, but hasn't she done a wonderfully creative job with them!!

Can you tell I'm a proud momma??

Carla said...

Dara is awsome! The more you look at her art...the more you want! I have 11 of her pieces and I am sure I need more!
Carla

diane allison-stroud said...

oh my.... i must have! they are an amazing creation...thanks jen and dara!

Anonymous said...

I'm with Jennifer Lanne--let's all go see Dara's house! I want more!

The "Star Collector" piece I got at THE HeART of WINTER is dangling from a chandelier in my living room. It gets sooo much attention because it hangs so low and if you're not watching it will pull your hair--how does Dara get her stuff to come to life like that? She's just full of magic!

Anonymous said...

I love the doll head pendants! I have never seen anything like that before..very original!!

kecia deveney said...

her stuff is amazing. i want a head doll - get more in!

kecia deveney said...

sorry, that was pretty bossy of me! i just love them though and got caught in the moment - lol.
kecia

melissa mccobb hubbell said...

Hi - I'd love some info about purchasing one of the "head girls"!

thanks,

Melissa
mmhubbell@earthlink.net

Ann said...

thank you for giving us a peep into that special place where an artist creates and works-Dara's pieces are unique, emotional and highly desirable!!!! Angie

Journal Swag said...

Oh my gosh! I ADORE these!! Dara is amazing!!


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...