Lola Brooks – SNAG Day 2
Tuesday, May 31st, 2011
“I know Exactly how she feels”, stated Lola Brooks, collector/borderline hoarder of shiny vintage things and jeweler of steel/gold/stones. Over the course of her talk, “Love and Other Indoor Sports” (day 2) we got a sneak peak into her closet and drawers full of vintage sunglasses, jumpsuits, and wallets, as well as the lot of rose cut garnets that have come to distinguish her jewelry line.
For Lola, she finds “power in accumulation” and considers herself a magnet for things; the materials end up finding her rather than her seeking them out intentionally. In her work, ornament becomes the structure, as in the Vomit Bracelet. 
Even though she had written out her lecture and was reading from it, her skills as a storyteller kicked in and soon we were all drawn into her world, captivated. And following on the heels of Glenn Adamson’s killer lecture, it was remarkable how many intersects there were between their lectures.
Smashed vintage cars and Damian Hirst’s “For the Love of God” 5o million pounds (100 million dollars) diamond and platinum skull, “the object I love to hate and hate to love” as Lola remarked. Thus began her obsession with diamonds and emulating them through faceting steel balls. She takes it to the limit with her “32 Fuckin’ Balls” neckpiece, somewhat a caricature of her work, made for Sienna Gallery’s Masterpieces exhibition.
32 balls necklace
blood garnet heart Brooch
brooch
From the disco balls to ivory roses with steel bows, she is a prolific artist to say the least, and finds “necessity for making lots of things” as she finds necessity in accumulation. 
What you may not notice is that there are springs attaching the roses to the armature (see underside photo above), which causes an ever slight movement of the roses. After tiring of roses and bows, Lola turns to hearts, which may sound saccharine, but actually imbues a dark kind of sexy, especially after you hear her describe the process of carving hearts similar to “carving J-Lo’s ass and suddenly I became a believer [in carved hearts]“.
On Truth and Value
During the “Smaller conference experience” lunchtime discussion, Lola remarks that Truth is Plastic, and she focuses more on Authenticity in her work and in living her lifestyle. “I don’t always understand a work while I’m making it, often not until it is done”, and “I’m an incredibly intuitive maker”. She does employ studio assistants and does not apologize for having hired help, nor should she. How strange that some people don’t consider her a studio jeweler because of this fact; does studio jeweler by definition mean you have to make all the work with your own hands, and if so, how does this leave any room for growing one’s business? Lola proudly reveals that she cultivates special relationships with her assistants and that both parties benefit from the arrangement.
Value is subjective–value of her art work is purely subjective, in the “eye of the beholder”, whereas her fashion jewelry is priced differently.
Not only is she a studio jeweler, but also crosses over into the fashion world, as she has worked with celebrities, fashion designers such as Jay McCarroll (Project Runway Season 1 winner), consulted for TV show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and teaches at RISD. I’m very excited to see what she has chosen for the upcoming Metalsmith Magazine’s Exhibition in Print, on the theme of Fresh. Apparently she has spent the last year focusing on her writing and not as much on making, so we can look forward to more of Lola Brooks story telling.
Want to hear more Lola Brooks! Lucky for us in SF, she has agreed to be a panelist for the Metal Arts Guild of San Francisco‘s One-Day Symposium, Forging Communities, Nov 12, 2011. Come hear the discourse on What Success Looks Like in the Jewelry World Today.
To add to my incredible emiko-o Month of Press (someone recently asked me “Who does your PR?”, and i was like, uhhhhh…you mean me?), the current issue of 
