Irving resident Jo Jennings has been creating jewelry for close to 70 years and has been participating in both local and national art shows over that tenure. So when Art in the Square popped up on the scene 20 years ago, Jo jumped on board.
This year, she will also be celebrating her 20th year participating in the event – right alongside Art in the Square itself.
I FIRST GOT INTO JEWELRY MAKING WHEN… my mom saw a little article in the local newspaper on a jewelry making class at the YMCA. I was 13 at the time. She came back after going to her first class and showed me what she was doing, and that’s all it took. I just had to go.
I AM PRETTY MUCH… self-taught. I started out making metal sculptures. In fact, I have the first thing I made still. It was a bowl that was made out of copper, brass, silver and gold, and it’s on an ebony base.
I ENTERED MY FIRST ART COMPETITION… at 16 or 17 years old. One thing leads to another and you hear about another competition. And I’m not someone who makes one thing and then wants to quit.
EVERYTHING I DO… is in gold. Everything is natural, and no pieces are alike – unless someone wants two alike designs. It’s all one of a kind. They are just whatever I feel in the moment. I start out with the stone and then create a piece around that specific stone. It’s all very freeform.
I FIRST HEARD ABOUT ART IN THE SQUARE WHEN… Terri Messing first called me when she was thinking about starting an art show. We talked back and forth and then Terri just went to work and has worked herself to a frazzle. That was 20 years ago. Terri is the most organized gal. She gets the people working.
ART IN THE SQUARE… strives to be the best. We just keep getting better and better. As the show grows, more and more people hear about it and want to be a part of it – even people from many, many states away.
WE SEE… new artists all the time. There are several that manage to make it back time and time again, but there are a lot of new ones too. And that keeps the show alive. The variety draws more people. Everybody who comes who hasn’t been before is just amazed by the quality of the art and the variety of the pieces.
I’VE ALSO BEEN A PART OF… the jury that judges the submissions not only for Art in the Square but also several other shows. A lot of people don’t understand how important it is to have a good photograph of their work and how important their booth photograph is. If you show you are going to have a messy booth at the show, it just tells me that you don’t care enough about what you have to make things look appealing. I’m looking for the quality of the workmanship, the cleanliness and the talent.
RIGHT NOW… I am working on several shows and am really trying to get orders out. It takes days to create my pieces. I do it all in wax; I burn the wax overnight. Then, I force some molten gold in and that’s casting it. Then I have to clean and cut everything off the button, grind it all down, polish it, get it all finished and set the stones or join the joints or whatever it takes. You don’t just whip through it in a couple of hours. Something simple could have a turnaround as quick as two weeks while others could be a month.
I GET UP AT… 2:30 or 3:30 a.m. and go up to my studio and start working. If there is any spare time, I am working. I’m a sick, sick workaholic, but I love what I am doing. In May, I will be 81 and people ask me when I am going to retire, and I have no plans to retire. I am so saturated with designs and creativity, so I just can’t wait to get up and play.