Cindy Forrester has always had the drive to create. As a child, she did drawings and paintings, but she recently discovered altered art and uses vintage and antique objects of almost any material imaginable to make one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry.
"I was browsing through an issue of Belle Armoire magazine one day and read about a lady who made jewelry from altered and discarded pieces," Forrester said. "I was fascinated and thought I'd give it a try." She started her Deltona business, Cindy Forrester's Designs, in July.
That same magazine, which gave her the inspiration for her "serious hobby," as she calls it, featured her work in its November/December issue. The article, "Altered Vintage Jewelry," pictured three pieces of her jewelry, and she sold all three.
The list of materials Forrester uses to make earrings, necklaces, bracelets and pins is endless. Her creations are formed from semiprecious stones, cameos, old religious metals, rosaries, chains, pieces of antique Bibles, chandelier crystals, old pocket watches, doll heads and tintype photos, to name just a few.
When not working as a claims adjuster for an insurance company, Forrester is searching for items to incorporate into her pieces.
"I shop on eBay, Etsy, which is a Web site to buy and sell objects and materials for handmade items, and visit antique stores," she said. "Often friends give me some of their pieces. I like to produce jewelry that looks old and vintage, and I give each a special name."
Forrester sells her jewelry on her Web site, cindyforrester.etsy.com. Prices range from $35 to $135 with earrings costing from $15 to $32.
One of her recent pieces, "Almost Heaven," is a 17-inch necklace of vintage rhinestones, pearls, topaz and garnet stones. For a pendant, she attached a tintype photo of a young lady, cutting it to size, backing it with a piece of crocheted lace and enclosing it in glass. She took the words "heaven" and "angel" from an 1800 German-English dictionary and put them at the bottom of the pendant.
It took her two hours to make, and it sells for $135.
Though concentrating on jewelry since July, Forrester still enjoys her acrylic paintings, and they have not been ignored.
She painted a portrait for country music singer Ricky Van Shelton and a picture of NASCAR driver Stacy Compton standing by his truck with the grandstand in the background.
Other individuals and corporations have commissioned her for her artwork and murals.
Looking toward the future, Forrester is considering doing shows and putting her jewelry in boutiques.
She also is looking into doing miniature paintings, making pendants for necklaces.
Source: orlandosentinel
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