A reputation is one thing, but having connections can make life a whole lot easier for struggling artists. Take Crystal Ouzillou.
She and her husband, Mendy Ouzillou, moved to Magnolia a year or so ago from Austin, Texas, where Crystal had made a name for herself as a jewelry artist who works with silver, gems and fused glass.
Back in Texas, Ouzillou's work was featured in stores that sold only locally made jewelry; she went out on the road to do art shows, and took part in wholesale gift shows in Dallas as well, she said.
That was there; Seattle has been a different story. "Relocating here, my business took a hit," Ouzillou sighed. That's despite her Web site (trezora.com), which ranks high on Google and accounts for much of her sales, she said.
However, Ouzillou's standing as an artist got a boost when she landed a fairly prestigious commission from the Seattle Aquarium, thanks to fellow Lawton Elementary School mom Marsha Savery.
Savery is the director of marketing, membership and guest services for the aquarium, and she suggested Ouzillou be the artist to design jewelry for the $100 Orca Sponsorships at this year's Splash fundraiser on June 8. "They called me," Ouzillou beamed.
The result was a limited edition of 225 glass-and-silver pendants that feature this year's theme at the aquarium: the giant Pacific octopus.
Using sterling-silver foil that is thinner than gold leaf, Ouzillou used a craft punch to stamp out small octopi shapes and then positioned them on small squares of white glass that she fused in a kiln, which operates at temperatures of 1,200 to 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit, she said
The silver design was oxidized in the process, turning the precious metal a gold color, and Ouzillou followed that up by fusing to the silver and glass a square of clear glass with lines of ocean blue running through it, she explained.
Ouzillou said she came up with four different colors for the second layer of glass. "And they chose the final color screen," Ouzillou said of aquarium officials.
The jewelry that was included in last year's Orca Sponsorship was a whale-tail necklace, but Ouzillou said the octopus theme is more heartfelt. "I think it's a much more personal touch for them."
Ouzillou took up glass art because her husband needed a hobby and took it up first, she said. The two have blown glass in the past, but Ouzillou doesn't care for that much. "I actually prefer fusing," she said.
Ouzillou starts out by cutting up 2-foot-by-4-foot pieces of glass in every color of the rainbow, but she also uses rods of colored glass, some of which are as thin as angel-hair pasta. Ouzillou uses ground-up colored glass that varies in consistency from coarse chunks to powder as well, she said.
A group of Lawton fifth-graders used the same materials to design a series of glass tiles by using Elmer's Glue to cement the materials to a base, Ouzillou said. The glue burns away during the firing process and the glass pieces fuse together, she added.
Ouzillou's muse can vary. "Sometimes I find myself working in one color - like a green phase. It's weird," she said. "My favorite thing is when I have a lot of colors crammed together," Ouzillou added.
She had a one-month show of her work at the Pratt Fine Arts Center last November, she's set up shop at the Seattle Gift Show, and the Magnolian has open houses twice a year in a garage turned studio. Ouzillou said.
But she's leery of the gallery scene in Seattle. "I do that, but I'm not comfortable doing that," said Ouzillou, who has a bit of a shy streak. Instead, her goal is not having to go out, she said.
Ouzillou hopes the aquarium commission leads to others there. "I'd like them to use me for more years," she said. In the meantime, Ouzillou is pleased with the recognition. "It feels like I've accomplished more in one year than I have in the previous five years."
The artist credits the neighborhood for part of her success. "It's nice to be in a community that gets me," is how Ouzillou puts it. "People here like glass."
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