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Friday, July 18, 2008

Amuse Artisanal Finery - A Millinery Shop and MUCH More.....!


I first met Jan Wutkowski more than two years ago when we were both featured in a local gallery show called "Fiber Radicals" at the Independent Art Company in Wilmington NC.  For me, it was the first veritable, juried ART SHOW into which I had ever been accepted!  The whole thing scared me! But....there were the most interesting and personable women I could imagine.  Among them were Dixon Stetler, the artist/owner of the IAC, Jan, Rebecca Yeomans, Joan Fry, and others whose names escape me at the moment.  I was honored to be among them.

Jan is a milliner!  One would think that hats were a dying art, but in fact, Jan has opened a cute little shop in Wilmington, called Amuse, and she has recently been featured in just about every local rag (no pun intended): Wilma, Focus on the Coast, Wrightsville Magazine, Star News, Wilmington Magazine!  I am thrilled for her that her enormous talent has been discovered!  If you Google her, you'll come up with innumerable references to her millinery skills.

I have been emailing with Jan, realizing that she had once done a demo of nuno felting for the women of Fiber Radicals, and I even found her notes in my files.  She doesn't do classes in nuno and couldn't recommend anyone locally who could help me.  In the interim I found Jean Gauger in Easthampton MA. Yesterday I stopped by Jan's shop, where I found her sitting in a lovely blue chair, beading a necklace.  She looked just as lovely in a yellow dress, lime green shrug and hat, and warmly welcomed my and my daughter into her very unique shop.  She gave us a tour and some history, and of course, we fell in love with all her creations.  She also carries vintage jewelry, hats, gloves, hat boxes, as well as new but vintage-looking gowns for brides, MOBs, and other discriminating shoppers.  And HATS! Hats! HATS!

She LOVED my nuno felted pins and brooches and wants to carry some in her shop!  YIPPEE!!!! She also wants to see other funky work of mine, so another trip to her shop is in the works soon.  Here are my latest nuno felted pins.

2 comments:

Nunofeltdesigns by NESchwab, San Francisco said...

So inspired by your incredible nuno pins, and being a nuno felter, I can deeply appreciate the work that goes into each one. But, they are truly all yours since they are matched in beauty to your talent! They were meant to be created by you.

Scarf It Up said...

WOW! Thank you so much for this comment! But you inspired ME early on - with your own great talent!

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