Writings, News, & Happenings

Louis Comfort Tiffany, son of Charles Lewis Tiffany of the famous silver and jewelry brand Tiffany & Co, was born February 18 (Aquarius/ Pisces cusp, obviously) 1848 in New York City. Throughout his life he became the leader in modern stained glass technique, while also succeeding in interior and furniture design. He is well known in the Art Nouveau and Aesthetic movements, and many of his original designs are highly sought after today.

Louis Tiffany spent most of his life designing. He started as a painter; training under big names such as Samuel Colman and George Inness, and later around 1875 used his knowledge of color blending and composition to begin his career designing glass works. He developed and perfected what is known as the “copper foil” technique, which involved coating the edges of colored glass in copper and then soldering them together to achieve fine detail. Previous methods used for hundreds of years prior involved using colorless glass that was painted, then set in lead-based chemicals.

In 1893, he opened his glass factory, Tiffany Glass Furnaces, in Queens New York. It is here where mass production for his coveted Tiffany Lamps began, including other interior objects such as glass, enamel, pottery, wall coverings, furniture and more. Quoting William Morris, Louis Tiffany shared the sentiment of, “What business have we with art at all unless all can share it?” and from this philosophy successfully created an aesthetic and product that was accessible to the masses. He is known for trademarking the term “Favrille,” the old French term for “handmade,” and also for employing hundreds of single women artists known as the “Tiffany Girls” to design his pieces, including Clara Driscoll who designed over thirty of the company’s coveted lamps, including the famous Wisteria, Dragonfly, Peony, and Daffodil styles. By 1902, he had become the first Design Director for his father’s company, Tiffany & Co.

Through his life until his death in January of 1933, his commitment to fine design and his work within the arts community pushed the limits of what one could achieve with a glass medium. His discerning taste for color inspired by nature contributed heavily to the Art Nouveau movement, while also challenging the modern aesthetic of traditional and mostly religious use of stained glass. His accomplishments of nearly a dozen design awards coupled with a successful glass production business added considerably to his family’s legacy, and today his pieces are highly sought after as Tiffany Lamps are no longer in production.

  

  

 

 

 

We are super excited to be a part of this Instagram giveaway! J. Southern Studio is gifting an Energy Cleansing Kit, Lavender Ritual Candle, and a Horizontal Antler Ring with moonstone!

One lucky winner will receive over $1000 worth of 14k gold, sterling silver, and brass jewelry, along with other home and wellness goods, gifted from 12 badass women-owned, women-made, and women-designed companies! Brands Include:

Acid Queen Jewelry

Anomaly Jewelry

CB Gems

Crystal Habitats

Dutch Hollow General

Good Girl Jewelry

Earthling Jewelry

Lingua Nigra

Freyja Jewels

Carrie Hoffman Jewelry

Lo and Chlo

To enter, simply follow us on Instagram, then find the photo above on our Instagram page for instructions! 

Contest ends June 28th at 6pm, PST! Good luck and HAPPY SOLSTICE!

JSS is proud to announce our endorsement by The MIA Project! The MIA Project is a group of artisans, designers, and producers who, as stated on their website, "value what has steadily diminished since the Golden Era: high-quality, longlasting products, slower consumption, and American job creation within the design and manufacturing sectors."

We are happy to be a part of a group that promotes what we believe in so strongly- consuming less, and investing more. Investing in a high quality, locally made piece of clothing or jewelry will last a lifetime, compared to our current standard of "More! Faster!" and the wasteful throw-away culture it has created. I miss the days when you'd buy something and it worked for years, and when it broke down, you took it in to be repaired. Today, things are made inexpensively overseas, resulting in a lower quality standard, poor customer service, and a dent in our economy. JSS Is proudly designed and made in America, and prides ourself on helping stimulate our own economy. 

JSS will be participating in Racked.com's first ever Holiday Market in NYC this December 5 & 6! Fifteen Los Angeles based designers have been chosen to show New York what they're made of, and for us that means vibing our modern/ cosmic/ raw/ earthy/ aesthetic for 16 glorious hours at 101 Wooster Street in SoHo (just look for us across the street from Chanel, obvio). In addition to our Primordia and other jewelry collections, I'll be creating brand new energy cleansing kits, esoteric bath kits, yummy candles, and other great metaphysical gifty- items that are great stocking stuffers, just in case your grandma or mom are out of palo santo and sage, don't worry I've got you covered. 

Come see what we're about!

xoxox

This little stop motion video was conceptualized and executed in two tiny studio apartments in Silverlake, Los Angeles, California. It took us two days to build the set, two full days of shooting, and hours of editing and scoring.  Not to mention how long it took to design and create the collection. After much time and effort, I am super excited and very proud to introduce the "Primordia" collection to the world- in all its cosmic, weirdo glory!

To watch in HD, click the Vimeo icon.

Written, Produced and Directed by J. Southern Studio and Sarah Manuwal
Animated by Sarah Manuwal
Edited by Bill Lamkin and Sarah Manuwal
Original Score by Colin Dawson
Staring Janeva Zentz
Hair and Make Up by Felicity Heath
Manicure by Rosanne Sollecito
All jewelry by J. Southern Studio