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Ari-O Jewelry
Published
12 years agoon
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AdminBy Emily Stifler Explorebigsky.com Managing Editor
BIG SKY – Jeweler Ariane Coleman is focused. She easily spends three days making one of the necklaces in her Fine Artisan line, she says.
“I can start at eight in the morning and five at night will just be there all of a sudden. I just get so engrossed in it—wanting it to be perfect, playing with how things look. Three days will go by and it will feel like three hours.”
On top of designing and constructing, she also imports beads for the necklaces from India and the Czech Republic. If she decides the piece would look better in gold, she ships out it out to be gold plated.
Coleman, 35, is a Billings native and has lived in Big Sky since 1998. She learned metalsmithing at MSU, graduated with a degree in fine art in 2004 and officially opened Ari-O Jewelry in 2009.
Coleman says a semester she spent studying metalsmithing in Italy still influences her work, particularly the more complex layered pieces, that she builds with rivets instead of soldering the metal.
“Every tool we had, we had to carry on our back and share, so it really taught me how to think outside of the box and redefine myself without the crutch of a torch.”
With five different lines of jewelry, including one for men, Coleman has a broad range of styles and price. The fine, layered, sculptural pieces have been on display in Gallatin River Gallery for several years, and she’s selling her newer “Boho Chic” beaded bracelets at the Big Sky Farmers Market this summer. Also new to her work are copper pendants and buttons.
“I’m trying to have a really broad spectrum market, everything from the high-end jewelry which only sells to a certain group to the beaded bracelets and the copper necklaces to another type of customer.”
Besides, she says, she gets bored doing the same thing over and over again.
“The key to success as an artist is to reinvent yourself, so if you have a return customer he or she comes and sees something new.”
Coleman hopes to move her shop out of the garage and to a small space with a storefront by this fall. With that, she’d also like to hire a couple of interns through the MSU metalsmithing program and up Ari-O Jewelry’s production.
“If I can turn this thing I love into making a living, it would be my dream,” she says.
And Big Sky is a good place to do it, she says.
“It presents great opportunity with the dynamic of people here. There’s influence from all over.”
Coleman’s community supports her: When she sent out an email asking for votes to be considered for a small business grant from Chase credit cards last month, she accumulated the 250 votes she needed for the nomination in eight days.
Look for Coleman and her son Orrin at the Big Sky Farmers Market this summer, or find her work at JP Woolies and Gallatin River Gallery.
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February 26 (Monday) - April 21 (Sunday)
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Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm We will combine the heart-opening powers of cacao with the transcendental powers of breathwork and sound. Together, these practices will give us the opportunity for a deep
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Saturday, March 23rd 6:00-8:00pm
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March 23 (Saturday) 6:00 pm - April 23 (Tuesday) 8:00 pm
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Santosha Wellness Center
169 Snowy Mountain Circle
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We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a
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We all are familiar with using a limited palette, but do you use one? Do you know how to use a limited palette to create different color combinations? Are you tired of carrying around 15-20 different tubes when you paint plein air? Have you ever wanted to create a certain “mood” in a painting but failed? Do you create a lot of mud? Do you struggle to achieve color harmony? All these problems are addressed in John’s workbook in clear and concise language!
Based on the bestselling “Limited Palatte, Unlimited Color” workbook written by John Pototschnik, the workshop is run by Maggie Shane and Annie McCoy, accomplished landscape (acrylic) and plein air (oil) artists,exhibitors at the Big Sky Artists’ Studio & Gallery and members of the Big Sky Artists Collective.
Each student will receive a copy of “Limited Palette, Unlimited Color” to keep and take home to continue your limited palette journey. We will show you how to use the color wheel and mix your own clean mixtures to successfully create a mood for your paintings.
Each day, we will create a different limited palette color chart and paint a version of a simple landscape using John’s directives. You will then be able to go home and paint more schemes using the book for guidance.
Workshop is open to painters (oil or acrylic) of any level although students must have some basic knowledge of the medium he or she uses. Students will be provided the book ($92 value), color wheel, value scale and canvas papers to complete the daily exercises.
Sundays, April 14, 21 and 28, 2024
Noon until 6PM.
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Come join us at Cowboy Coffee as we celebrate a fun night of drinks, games, and meeting others within the community. This event is from 6-8 and all are welcome
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Come join us at Cowboy Coffee as we celebrate a fun night of drinks, games, and meeting others within the community. This event is from 6-8 and all are welcome to come, if you don’t know who to bring come alone this is a great mixer event! This is an event hosted by Big Sky OUT as we work to provide queer safe spaces throughout the community.
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(Sunday) 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
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Cowboy Coffee
25 Town Center Ave. Big Sky, MT 59716