Fly Feast

Enamel, watercolor enamel, copper, freshwater pearls, glass beads, hematite, thread, sterling silver, patina

4 ¾ in L x 1 ? in W

I live in rural New England where I’m surrounded by nature, beautiful farms, and an array of animals. In the springtime, poplar trees bloom and turn the streets into whimsical fairy worlds full of white fluffs dancing through the air. Just beyond the beauty, at any given time, you’ll find a wake of vultures pulling apart entrails like they’re nothing more than threads, squirrels trying to outrun diving hawks, or rabbits, foxes and the like trying to outrun us.

My jewelry is inspired by this coexistence of life and death within nature, and the fluidity of beauty and decay resulting from it. I primarily use enamel as a nod to painted miniatures and lovers' eye jewelry and the preciousness associated with them as a way to honor the animals I depict. While my jewelry can act as tokens of remembrance, it’s also a reminder for the wearer that in life, you can’t have light without the darkness.

Artist Bio:
Meghan Schmiedel is an enamelist and jewelry artist with an affinity for New England nature and finding whimsy in unlikely places. She’s endlessly inspired by the coexistence of life and death within nature and watching the animals she so relates to navigate it all.

She combines watercolor enamel with an array of beading to transform the morbidness of death into something delicate and beautiful that draws the eye in, while also nodding to cemetery immortelles and enamel’s lengthy history of being used in particularly sentimental pieces of jewelry. While her jewelry can be seen as tokens of remembrance, it’s also a reminder for the wearer that in life, you must move through the shadows to step into the light.