The Artist and the Matutano Necklace

Summer. Or a close facsimile. Temperatures are still low in this shady bit of Spain –sorry, once again the weather- but what the hell, it’s time to get the colors out! I don’t care if it's raining cats and dogs, or that it’s in the teens, I am going to wear bright colors.  And accessorize accordingly!

Encouraged by the attractive exhibition on Francisco Durrio at the Fine Arts Museum of Bilbao, I thought I needed to give myself a contemplative moment with costume jewelry. I ventured a second visit to the show just to calmly enjoy the room devoted to his craftmanship in precious metals. His rings, buckles and brooches fall somewhere  between Symbolism and Surrealism in style, and are very seductive, a perfect jewel for a man in my opinion. Paco Durrio was a Spanish artist who lived 73 years, between 1868 and 1940, divided among Bilbao, Madrid, Paris and Saint-Prix (Seine-Oise) in the outskirts of Paris where he died without a dime. He painted, sculpted, mastered the art of silver-smithing and overall devoted his soul to ceramics. In the meantime-and this is what the exhibition is about- he acted as mentor and protector of Spanish artists moving to Paris, mainly Basques and Catalans, and established fond relationships with artists of whom he formed a considerable collection of artworks: Gauguin, Degas, Van Gogh, Sisley, Picasso, etc

 Pendant (Birds) c. 1895-1896 Chiselled silver with opal and nephrite
 Museo de Bellas Artes de Bilbao

_{Cleopatra, before 1904
Chiselled silver and green stone, 4,5 x 12,1 x 1,4 cm
Musée d’Orsay, Paris} 

After such an inspired and unruffled afternoon I looked at myself in the mirror and saw no trace of accessories, not even one bit of jewelry…and proceeded to go tragically nostalgic about all that unnecessary stuff that a woman accumulates over time. I dumped all my costume jewelry on top of my bed and started classifying it. I had a big ball of tangled necklaces, bracelets, good stuff, cheap stuff and a lot of the “Matutano” stuff. For those not initiated in this, Matutano is a Spanish snack company (now owned by Pepsico)-chips, Cheetos, peanuts, etc.- which back in the 80s had a campaign where they gave away plastic earrings and bracelets hidden in their chips bags. As you can imagine the quality of them was as high as the ones that they sell in the “all-for-one-pick your currency” shops today. However, the colors were fluorescent and the motif was very Spanish. So pertinent to my current mood!

With that I found the big, flat clip earrings and a lot of resplendent chains, bold necklaces and combinations of leather and gold. Very eighties. So that’s what I’m going for, and a lot of it. Mix and match real gold and plastic necklaces, bright colors with tribal or ethnic textures, anything flies. So from here, I want to encourage everyone to do the “dumping maneuver”. Ask your mothers, your grandmothers, even your neighbors to join in on your trip down memory lane. It’ll be a good laugh and a very cheap option for these times of austerity. If you find pieces that need fixing or customizing, it makes for another fun activity. Haul them to your local beads shop and ask for help. Your accessories can look like new, and perhaps you’ll leave absolutely convinced of the treasure you have!

Grrrow!

Getting the gold out

Indian & Flower

Plastic & Gold

Hey, look at the medal and cross!

That is pretty pop, gal