Artist strings together jewelry with a visual edge Monday, June 07, 2010 By Mary Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Lake Fong/Post-Gazette

Memphis George displays her work.

"Which one drew you in?" Memphis George asks a woman who stepped into her booth at the Three Rivers Arts Festival Artists Market.

She had been walking past in the measured but steady pace visitors adopt in order to see everything, and then it happened, as it often does with Ms. George's work: The woman focused in on a particular piece of jewelry and broke stride to stop and examine it.

Among rows of artisans, Ms. George stands out. Her jewelry is unique, her range wide, her expression eccentric. Her attention to and respect for technique puts her squarely within craft tradition, while her need to give in to eye and whimsy trips her over the line to artist.

Cast bronze, gold, gemstones and beads, carved camel bone skulls and Swarovski crystals, sterling silver and resin exist side by side in necklaces that are as carefully composed as a painting.

It follows that Ms. George -- a Washington, Pa., resident whose given name is Michelle Sabol -- was an abstract painter and avant-garde filmmaker before turning to jewelry with a visual edge.

"I'm all about experimentation and figuring out different ways to work with material," she says. "What can I do with that? How can I take it and make it really original?"

One characteristic of her work that ensures its originality is her ability to accent and dismiss preciousness at the same time. And within chaos there's order.

One necklace includes a London blue topaz, tourmaline, Thai yellow sapphires ... and a section of a wasp nest. Her studio was infested with large spiders -- Ms. George makes a gesture indicating the size of her palm -- which was particularly distressing because she had to capture them and toss them outside -- "I don't kill things."

Then wasps moved in and began eating the arachnids. The necklace was created "with thanks to the wasps who ate my spiders." While the domed nest with gilded images of wasps dominates, off to one side dangles a small eight-legged creature made of sparkling apatite, a gemstone not well known to the general public.

Some of her work combines other interests. The "juju series" includes, subtly, words from songs she's written. A necklace has a haiku poem on the back, composed for that particular piece. "Lily Pond" rings place resin-coated gemstones within lost wax cast bronze bases to mimic shaded pools.

Many pieces belie their complexity. For her brightly colored Plexiglas bracelets she prepares the material by heating it to an exact temperature, cuts and manipulates it, sets it with stones or Plexiglas flowers that she's built layer by layer, and then polishes each work.

That accomplished, she's ready to take on the next technique, material, style.

"One of the things that people ask me most often is, 'Where do you get your ideas?' " Ms. George says it amazes her that people think ideas come from outside, and one of her "juju" necklaces contains the phrase "practice imagination."

"I get my ideas by penetrating the place where original thought is. That's where art comes from."

Memphis George's booth is near the lotus fountain in Gateway Center through Tuesday. She will also exhibit at the Shadyside Arts Festival and A Fair in the Park, Mellon Park. For more information and work, visit www.memphisgeorge.com.

Every time I wear your work I get so many compliments!

Time and time again I hear stories from my customers about their amazing
experiences with their Memphis George jewelry.  I have an extremely large
amount of repeat customers.  Invariably they tell me the same thing: 
“Every time I wear your work I get so many compliments!” or “I’m always
getting stopped by total strangers because they want to know about
my necklace!” or “Anytime I want to feel special, I just wear your jewelry.”

"My story…I first met Memphis at the Three Rivers Arts Festival in the year 2000. 
I bought my first pieces of her jewelry then and I’ve been collecting her jewelry/art work ever since.  I feel very special when wearing her jewelry as it is all one-of-a-kind. 
I get compliments all the time."

"I have also turned all of my friends, family and many others on to Memphis
George jewelry!!! I’m one of her biggest fans!!!"    

"Thanks Memphis"

Fern (Patty) Gabig  
Hair Designer, La Pomponnee  
Mt. Lebanon, PA 

"Memphis George jewelry seamlessly blends a variety of unique items into
a beautiful and one-of-a-kind piece of artwork.  The best part is that
unlike most works of art, you get to wear it out!"

Lauren Baldel,   
Attorney, Pittsburgh, PA  .

"I know that whenever I wear a piece of Memphis George jewelry to the symphony
or to dinner or anywhere that I am sure to receive at least one compliment. 
Not only is the jewelry beautiful, it is INTERESTING. The designs are creative,
clever, and they always work. How do you come up with so many unique designs
and never make the same thing twice???"

Robin Richards  
Robin Richards Photography  
Washington, Pennsylvania  

"Fashionable, chic and trendy are the comments I repeatedly hear
when I wear my Memphis jewelry. And, as I love to get attention,
Memphis jewelry is perfect for me!" 

Beth Slagle, Attorney, Pittsburgh, PA  

Below you can see some of my work in action

Local Motion
     Pittsburgh City Paper Fashion Event  2005
     Memphis George "I of the Cosmos" neckpiece and "The Moon's Reflection on the Water" Zen Koan handpainted and sterling centerpiece  worn as a waist brooch.
The handpainted silk dress and photo are by Monica Phillips.


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Future Tenant Gallery, 2005
     Clothing designer Monica Phillips organized this fashion meets art event.


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Memphis George
Private Showroom and Open Studio Event
     Feburary 10, 2006