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Richmond Fall Fashion Week Review By Deniz Ataman QuailBellMagazine.com Last Friday night was the launch of Richmond's Fall Fashion Week Jewelry Designer Showcase. Rocking my best autumn attire (black, boots, and a beanie), I marched over to what is the Financial District by day to Haxall Point. This season was marked by a variety of materials ranging from upcycled bullet bracelets, polymer clay necklaces, bone from jewelry designers to bright colors and dreamy scapes from painters. With everyone dressed in their city-best, I grabbed a beer and window-shopped with a few friends to see what's buzzing in Richmond's craft-bauble scene: Art By Zoey B: Paintings can also be accessories for your wall. In this case, Richmond-based artist, Zoey Belton's bright, graffiti-like, saturated colored paintings pair well with any lonely, beige space. Her vibrant colors are both symbolic to her vibrant personality, as well as to her message highlighting femininity in a male-dominated industry. Inspired by a show at First Fridays two months ago, Zoey attended a paint session with a local artist where she knocked out several paintings and was hooked on the creative medium. Under her mentor's encouragement, Zoey began posting her paintings online where she received great response. Her unorthodox method of finger-painting goes hand-in-hand with her motto: Art is a Feeling, Not a Picture: "So many artists use brushes. I haven't done this that long. A lot of artists use tools and I just want to use what God gave me. You get so many textures and shapes with your fingers. It gets messy. That's the fun part of it," Zoey says pointing to her wave of strokes on the canvas. You can view her paintings on her Facebook. Stay tuned for her official website. Surface Handmade: For those who have trouble wearing metal pieces (alas, nickel allergies are too common), owners/designers, Jacqueline Davis and Jaquelyn Levesque, focus on the natural side of textiles with polymer clay. Each unique piece is hand-made with a range of solid to speckled clay. I couldn't get enough of the neutral minimalist, yet statement-worthy, pieces that look like pebbles excavated from a desert island with colors like marbled navy, glass-green, sandy pink, and wheaty-taupe. Each necklace is a testament to the J's skills, both Senior Fashion Merchandising majors at VCU where each "pebble" is crafted with it's own unique coloration and pattern. If you're looking for an earthy-flavor to add to your holiday glitz, follow Surface's Instagram to find their next pop-up shop or pop into Clementine and Addison Vintage in Richmond's Carytown for your next signature piece. HassonWorks: A blend of photography, graphic design, graphic art, illustration, Hasson Roberts' paintings illustrate his own story. A Christopher Newport University graduate who was on the track to play football, is a Richmond-based artist, who took advantage of CNU's brand new art program at the time. His blend of photography, graphic design, graphic art, and illustration are a testament to his influences which he finds from the likes of other artists, such as Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness with the quote, "I should be loyal to the nightmare of my choice." Flipping through his prints, his newer work is a series of warped, elongated figures reminiscent of a Hunter S. Thompson mind-trip painted in soft pastel colors. Inspired by street art and movie quotes, Hasson finds a plethora of inspiration to accompany his multi-talent of mediums, including designing and building his own frames for his work: "I built these frames to go with each piece. I wanted these frames to look like the painting is floating and that it can accent any wall," he explains pointing to a pastel blue graphite and film drawing of his brother. Follow Hasson's progress on his work on his Instagram. Brittanny Chanel Jewelry: One of Quail Bell's featured artists, Brittanny Phipps, presented her latest rings, necklaces, and earrings in her trademark dainty, minimalist style. "I made everything tonight specifically for this show," says Brittanny. A Lynchburg, Virginia-native, Brittanny included a mix of stones for her pieces. A pair of dangling earrings I coveted dearly were a simple verticle-line design of black coral, bone, and Tiger's eye. For the funky fresh fashionistas, B's line of "onesie" earrings were the high light of her collection. Made of stones in the likes of Chinese turquoise, faceted black agate, Tiger's eye, and white coral, these statement earrings are the perfect accent for a trendy outfit (feather skirt, sequined blazer, or metal-link headband, for example) or to play-up a demure day look for the office (white oxford and cigarette pants, perhaps?). And if you want to amp up your style, try mixing B's onesie earring with a stud of your choice. Fella optional. Shop online or at Addison Vintage in Richmond. Style Identity: With her warcry chant, "Style is the armor in the battle for identity," VCU Fashion Merchandising graduate, Ashley Wright revealed her tribal-inspired pieces crafted from upcycled and recycled materials. Wright weaves an assortment of materials to create statement necklaces made from glass beads and safety pins to my favorite piece: prayer-bead-esque bracelets with a bullet charm. Her handmade pieces crafted from beads, wood, shell, fabric, glass, and plastic offer her customers on Etsy a plethora of uniqueness to choose from. Follow and shop Style Identity on Etsy. #Real #Fashion #Jewelry #Handmade #Baubles #Painting #Artists #Local #Richmond #FashionWeek #Fall #RVA Visit our shop and subscribe. Sponsor us. Submit and become a contributor. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
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