Reinventing the Creative Path by Nadine Zenobi

After forty years of traveling the country doing art shows, my jewelry career is taking a turn. I have settled down to opening my doors to the public during the the wonderful Orange County Open studio tour which has always been one of my favorites. When you visit you can see an example of how I work, the various techniques and tools I like to use to create my jewelry.

Reinventing my creative world has brought me to the Pittsboro Gallery of Art, a cooperative gallery in the heart of Pittsboro. It is a lovely gallery with a strong spirit and force giving wings of growth for many artists. I am very comfortable with being in the gallery and communicating with the public, sharing my work and many other artists creations. It feels like a new expression of who I am as an artist.

I have also expanded to an established jewelry store in Hillsboro: Melissa Designer Jewelry, where I work one day a week and exhibit my jewelry. Between the gallery and jewelry store, I can expand public connection and have more time in my studio. With that time, I can create more custom work which I love and start to move away from large production work and focus on more concentrated pieces.

It also gives me time to paint which is relaxing and rejuvenating at the same time. My paintings encompass the world of the seen and “unseen” and nature is the predominate subject. The nature spirits accompany many of my works.

Here’s another example of themes related to nature spirits. Presently I am using acrylic paint but have worked in watercolors and oils. I feel to be right in that world when I am painting and that is a joy and my particular form of meditation.

I was traveling in Europe for 4 years and when I returned to the states my brother in law sat me down and said I had to illustrate a a children’s book that he was the author of. The book was titled “The Tooth Fairy Legend: The Touch of Kindness”. At first it was over-whelming to create the visual world of his characters, but then it became fun — which was nearly 30 years ago. After all these years it is still in print and mostly sold digitally now.

Now that I work in different mediums It feels like I am synthesizing forms of different aspects of my creativity and having fun with it!