A Southern Love Letter...







 If you already know me than you know that I am a huge fan of supporting anyone who has followed a dream to create their own products. I love to travel to local farmers markets, art/craft shows and local speciality shops/boutiques to experience local talent. 

Today in my first installment of A Southern Love Letter, I am celebrating in a huge way! She is an icon in Louisiana to many women and her jewelry is considered as hot a status symbol in Louisiana as Tiffany is to New York.  

 Mignon Faget is driven to design jewelry derived from natural and architectural forms found in her native New Orleans environment.

“I was born here and I’ve lived here all of my life. What is so beautiful about Louisiana comes out through my work. It is a mysterious place.”

Mignon Faget began her design career in 1969 with the launch of her first ready-to-wear collection. The success of the collection prompted her to explore what might be the perfect belt, pin or necklace to enhance these ensembles. This early exercise and her studies in sculpture from Sophie Newcomb College led to her first jewelry forms. Since then, jewelry has become her all consuming interest in the field of design.

From the beginning, she has worked closely with natural forms, never simply duplicating but always extracting the substance, the essence of a particular shape…refining it to perfection. “My work is like a journal. Whatever it is that I am particularly interested in at that phase of my life comes out in my work.”

A fifth generation New Orleanian, Faget has flourished in the culture and traditions of her birthplace. Her collections reflect this. Her first jewelry collection, SEA, is the transformation of the natural jewels found on the Gulf Coast into wearable objects of adornment. Botanical designs include indigenous plants such as Banana Leaves, Cycas and Palmae. ROMANESQUE RETURN reflects the architectural details of the historic Henry Hobson Richardson Library located on the famed Lee Circle. IRONWORKS is her newest study based on the historic VieuxCarre work of Marcellino Hernandez, the most renowned of the Spanish iron forgers in Louisiana. LOUISIANA has a touch of whimsy with the Gumbo Necklace and Mardi Gras Charm Bracelet.

Mignon Faget’s formal training in the arts began at Sophie Newcomb College of Tulane University from which she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, with a concentration in sculpture. She furthered her studies at l’Atelier de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris and the Parsons School of Design in New York. Faget returned to Tulane University to take post graduate classes in botany and other areas of personal interest.

Faget has long been an active preservationist and art advocate. She has donated proceeds of her designs and her first gallery building to the Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans. She has been an active leader and supporter of the arts and has served on boards for several of the local museums.

The Artist...Mignon Faget...it's worth a look!

http://www.mignonfaget.com/about-mignon/mignon-video.html

My husband introduced me to Mignon Faget on our first Christmas together in Florida. He was already a fan of her designs and did some Christmas shopping online. I loved my ring immediately and still treasure it today!

Then during my first visit to New Orleans my husband purchased her New Orleans Charm Bracelet for me to represent all the sights of the city. The charms represented are; the trolly car, bean, crawfish, alligator, pelican and fleur de lis. 

If you are in New Orleans her boutiques are a must see, or you can still have the experience online. Check out all her designs on the link located on the right side of my blog.

A local treasure to all!

Gratefully,

Deborah...xxoo