Dual Inspiration

Dual Inspiration:                                                                           

June Artist Exhibit at Bitfactory Gallery with                                    

Anna Marie Mead and Julie Sims

June 2, 2017 - June 30, 2017

Opening - First Friday, June 2nd 6 - 10 pm

Artist Reception - Third Friday, June 16th 6 - 8 pm

                      Dual Inspiration Artists roam the world seeking inspiration in nature, architecture, poetry, and science. Although they seldom work side by side, artists do always look to each other to find their muse. In the case of jewelry artist, Julie Sims, her muse appeared in the paintings of abstract artist Anna Marie Mead. Working at a local gallery one day, Sims noticed a similarity between the colors and flow of her Australian opal ring and the abstract canvas “Cascade” of Mead.

            Dual Inspiration was born. Sims and Mead set out to create a unique show in which they reimagine each other’s work in their own medium. Mead’s paintings draw inspiration from the metal and gemstones in Sims lovingly created heirloom jewelry pieces. Stylistically and chromatically, the movement and color of Mead’s bright bold paintings inspire Sims’ earrings, bracelets and necklaces for the show. 

                        Dual Inspiration is a joint venture of abstract painter Anna Marie Mead and jewelry designer Julie Sims.

                        MEAD - Composition gives form to purely intuitive expression coming from deep inside.  Color, mark, and shape are influenced by a constant wonder for nature, aligning the work and inherent essence of my soul. 

 Nature has always been the inspiration for my work: cloudscapes, ocean scenes, wind-swept hillsides and glorious sunsets.  I love to blend colors with the freshness and freedom of natural scenes, but often with an abstract interpretation. The process employs raw, intuitive energy to guide paint application while thick and thin layers of color and texture create rhythms of pattern, line and shape for abstract expressions to emerge.

                        When painting, it feels like I'm riding a beautiful wave.

                        Sims - As an art student at Indiana University, jewelry and metalsmithing became my passion. My love for jewelry began long before this. As my grandparents traveled the world, they brought me unconventional pieces of jewelry and sometimes rough stones as gifts. Little did I know these gifts would create a lifelong love of gemstones and metals. The point in college in which I realized I could create my own jewelry changed my life.

                        My jewelry consists of elegant geometric shapes, lines and the uncommon forms of common stones. After creating one piece of jewelry I watch as other works unfold from this single idea. Although the process to create jewelry in gold and silver is complex, I like to create simple, uncluttered pieces of jewelry to remind us that beauty can be found in the simplest forms.

                        As I take my work into the future, I will continue this passion for metal and the endless array of uncommon gemstones available by pursuing a Graduate Gemologist degree through the Gemological Institute of America.

For more information please visit: www.bitfactory.net/exhibitions