butterfly crescent moon bracelet magical felice wiens

In addition to creating her magical, faerie-inspired jewelry, Dayton artist Felice Wiens also creates artistic photos showcasing the work Butterfly Crescent Moon Bracelet.

If you discovered that you could fly — not on a plane, but with faerie wings you suddenly found you possessed — would you do it?

And if you were given the opportunity to make yourself very small (with, of course, the ability to instantly change back) and fly from flower to flower in the garden, would you take it?

Felice Wiens would. The Dayton, WA, jewelry artist, who creates under the name The Eclectic Beader, thinks that the world is a bigger and deeper and richer place than what we’re taught to expect. Through her necklaces, bracelets, chakras, hair clips, earrings and more, she invites others to look beyond the ordinary.

Red Faerie Wings Resin Earrings Felice Wiens

Red Faerie Wings dangle elegantly from a bejeweled branch, as if the sprites had hung them up for the night. Hand-crafted jewelry by Felice Wiens.

“I have always been drawn to the magical,” Wiens says. “I’ve loved faeries since I was a little girl, and when I discovered that I could make magical pieces myself — pieces that others are drawn to — I knew I found what I wanted to do.”

A Creative Haven for Magic

Working out of a space she carved for herself in the basement (“The only downside is that our three pet cats will, every so often, wander into my space and walk across my work area”), Wiens has set up a creative haven filled with artwork, candles, finished jewelry, and all the raw materials she needs to make magic. There, she winds and weaves, constructs and fabricates, twists and intertwines semi-precious gemstones, Tibetan silver charms, beads, and bronze, copper, silver and gold-planted charms and chains into wearable jewelry art that transports the wearer to an enchanted forest or bewitching beach. The goal — for both her as the creator and those who purchase her jewelry — is peace, calm, tranquility, contemplation, imagination, meditation, and enchantment.

Green Butterfly Faerie Charm Felice Wiens

Green, with all its vibrancy and hearkening to spring, is a favorite color of Wiens. Green Butterfly with Faerie Charm Necklace by Felice Wiens.

“I currently work as a 911 dispatcher for Columbia County,” Wiens explains, “and while I enjoy the job, it is extremely stressful. Being able to go down to my workspace, light some candles, put on my Missing 411 podcast and just create jewelry helps to ground me.

“I think it’s very important to have a life outside of work.”

Faerie Wings from Resin

One of Wiens’ most popular creations has been her resin butterflies and faerie wings, which she hand-builds one at a time and colors using a mixture of translucent dyes and powder pigments. The wings require patience, concentration, and a deft hand, a combination that results in an art piece that is whimsical and fanciful: the exact emotions for which Wiens is striving. Along with the fancy, or more befittingly, integrated with it, is a strong element of spirituality. This, Wiens says, is intentional.

“I use gemstones — amethyst, aventurine, obsidian, lapis lazuli — that provide different healing properties as well as symbols with the charms.

Amethyst Fairy Moon Ear Wrap Felice Wiens

A selection of charms bedecks the Amethyst Faerie Moon Ear Wrap by Felice Wiens

“I fully believe that everyone should pick the path that works best for them. They should not shun others for choosing differently, or be shunned for choosing something different.

“The world we live in today is too focused on beating everyone down into submission. Or it bullies those who refuse to give in. It’s for that reason that I create things for people of all walks of life to enjoy.”

Inspired by Faeries and Family

As a child, Wiens discovered the Flower Faerie Books by Cicely Mary Barker, and she bought copies of those books for her own two daughters. Those books and other volumes of faerie art, as well as various websites and pages on the Internet, provide constant inspiration for new ideas, new patterns, new designs. So, also, do the encouragement of her daughters and husband:

“I am married to a wonderful man who has been very supportive of my ventures. And my daughters — they enjoy coming down to the studio to make jewelry with me. Just as often, however, they wait like vultures for a piece that doesn’t turn out so they can take it.”

Wiens has sold her jewelry worldwide through her Etsy shop, and she builds her brand by regularly and steadily posting on various social media sites. Lately, she has teamed up with social media influencers who promote her work.

With a family; an intense job; keeping fit through CrossFitting, biking, and paddle boarding; and, of course, making sure that the cats are content, she keeps busy without being stressed, because stress isn’t at all magical, fanciful, joyous, or good.

“I am humbled when people buy my work and leave a great review. It makes me happy to know that something I created has brought someone else joy.”

Because joy is what makes this world bigger and deeper and richer. And magical.

Felice Wiens is the featured Art Event at Wenaha Gallery from May 24 through June 20, 2022.

Contact the gallery, located at 219 East Main Street, Dayton, WA, by phone at 509.382.2124 or e-mail art@wenaha.com. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Monday through Friday, and by appointment. Visit the Wenaha Gallery website online at www.wenaha.com.

rock visions watercolor painting by wenaha gallery artist Denise Elizabeth Stone

Rock Visions: The Shape of Things to Come by Denise Elizabeth Stone

We’ve all heard of the artist’s Muse. While some artists credit (or blame) an outside source of inspiration for their work – whether it is one of the classical Greek goddesses or an actual human being – painter Denise Elizabeth Stone of La Grande, OR, interacts with a unique, physical muse, consisting of the very materials that she uses.

Stone’s signature medium, batik watercolor, is an intricate process that integrates handmade Asian papers, beeswax, watercolor or gouache, and ink to create what Stone describes as “creative descendants of traditional silk and cotton batik fabrics.”

Viewers find Stone’s work to be richly colorful, exuberant, and full of texture. Due to the batik watercolor process, which involves painting on the paper, coating it with a paraffin/beeswax mixture, crumpling the paper to crack the wax, ink washing, and ironing the wax out, Stone never knows exactly what she will find at the end of the process.

“Paint behaves very differently on the Asian papers,” Stone explains, “Sometimes, it’s almost like painting on tissue paper – the paint spreads out, and it’s hard to control.

“You have to accept that this is a joint creation between you, the paint, and the paper.”

It’s almost as if there were a psychology to the process, which is not an inapt description, given Stone’s career background as a psychotherapist and vocational rehabilitation counselor. Upon moving to Oregon, Stone retired from her day job in order to pursue art fulltime, and she credits her experience and training in the world of psychology as definite influences in her art.

Artist Denise Elizabeth Stone

“I have taken the long road to full-time art, a scenic route winding through the vistas of science, spiritual studies, and psychology,” Stone says. “As a former psychotherapist, I have an abiding interest in the psychological nature of transformation, archetype, and the Divine Feminine.”

Ideas for Stone’s paintings often begin as dreams or sudden revelations, with images of trees, caves, birds, fish or other animals being prominent. While not seeking to convey a specific message of spirituality, Stone aims to express a feeling of sacredness and connectedness, reflecting her tremendous respect and reverence for the natural world. Because the essence of Stone’s art incorporates universal symbolism, viewers find themselves drawn into a story, one that often expresses a common human experience.

Primarily self-taught, Stone has taken classes and workshops in art, and she finds continued inspiration through her association with the Batik Convergence, a collaboration of four fulltime artists who specialize in the batik watercolor medium.

“The BatCons provide constructive critiques, invaluable support, and wild and wacky ideas!” Stone says. “They give me that extra little push to create, to try something new, to stretch in new directions.”

Dance of Sun and Sea original painting by wenaha gallery artist Denise Elizabeth Stone

Dance of Sun and Sea by Denise Elizabeth Stone

Stone has exhibited her work in shows and exhibitions throughout Oregon and in Washington, and she has received numerous awards, including Second Place at the 2013 Wallowa Valley Festival of the Arts, a competitively juried exhibition drawing the top artists of the Oregon/Washington/Idaho region. Her very first award, at Baker City’s Art at the Crossroads, is her most memorable, as it included Honorable Mention for one painting and People’s Choice for another.

“It just knocked my socks off!” Stone remembers. “I have received different awards since then, but this first one was the biggest thrill because it was so unexpected.”

Stone shows her work online at www.therowdygoddess.com, a name she chose to remind herself to not be afraid to shake things up a bit. Professionally, she uses her full name, Denise Elizabeth Stone, in honor of her grandmother, whose middle name is Elizabeth as well, and also in honor of her mother, who named her for strong women.

A gallery artist at Wenaha Gallery in Dayton, Stone is the featured Pacific Northwest artist for Art Event, a two-week showcasing of her works, beginning Monday, March 17, at the gallery. Stone’s Art Event runs through Monday, March 31.

Wenaha Gallery, located in historic downtown Dayton, Washington, is your destination location for Greenwich Workshop Fine Art Prints, original fine art paintings and sculpture by notable Pacific Northwest artists. Books, gifts, note cards, jigsaw puzzles, and more are also available.

This article was written by Carolyn Henderson.

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