Garden of Eden: A New Jewelry Collection to be Unveiled by Evanston Artist Eve J. Alfill?

Evanston, IL – In the latest design series of jewelry by Eve Alfillé entitled “Garden of Eden,” a bevy of pieces will be released featuring lush organic and abstract designs meant to transport the viewer to a place of unimaginable peace and plenty. Familiar shapes, such as leaves, fruit, and snakes, will weave in and out of the viewer’s consciousness in a bevy of representations ranging from the concrete and identifiable, to the mere, abstract hint of a scaly texture.

Seeking to embody an impression of paradise she encountered as a young girl, Eve has chosen to employ a style of simplicity and innocence similar to the intuitive forms used by artist Henri Rousseau in his paintings of lush and paradisiacal jungle settings. Eve plans to juxtapose these simplified images with more sophisticated, realistic elements in order to “depict the difference between the state of not knowing and of knowing,” a change which came about since another famous Eve bit from a certain apple.

Fans of Alfille’s jewelry can expect to see an array of both warm and cool colors in the upcoming collection, with a particular focus on green “as a garden has many, many different kinds of greens; every possible green you can imagine. On the other hand, there will be warm colors: peach and orange and brown and gold, all the way into an almost mustard kind of color...there will hardly be any blue this time.” To fit this coloristic array, gem lovers can anticipate a surge of both tourmalines and pearls, among other materials.

This abundance of materials and motifs will have much to do with the idea of the Garden’s fruitfulness: “the feeling I was after, the feeling of plentitude, is what the garden was. All you had to do was look, and you had anything.” And like the Garden, there will be an abundance of visual delights to enrapture and entertain to any who should choose to visit the gallery this fall.

“Garden of Eden” Artist Statement

When I was a small child, Paradise
Had trees with bright berries. Birds,
swooping, came to feed,
and I, laughing, ran to catch them.

When I was a small child, every tree
bestowed more than shade: splendor,
a place to shelter, footholds to the sun
in its branches..

When I was a small child, in the garden
was the air, more transparent,
breath so free that guiltcould not exist there.

Adam and Eve were children. In Paradise
they encountered a subtle beast
and made, as it is known
a bad choice.

Shazam!
Plump leaves turned spiky, and thorns
morphed to flaming swords. From smooth
Brain lobes became rugged.
The very air , and water
now to fight over.
Children of the world, if you had to imagine paradise
I wonder, would it involve screens?

The new series will be released and celebrated on November 15, 2014 from 1:00 p.m - 7:00 p.m. at the Eve J. Alfillé Gallery and Studio. To join the celebration, call to reserve your space at 847-869-7920 or send an email to contact@evejewelry.com. To learn more about Eve J. Alfillé and her inspiration, go to www.evejewelry.com.

About Eve J. Alfillé Gallery & Studio
French-born, artist, archeologist and gem expert, Eve J. Alfillé opened her Evanston, IL-based gallery and studio in 1987. The Eve J. Alfillé Gallery & Studio creates one-of-a-kind, art-inspired jewelry hand-crafted at the Gallery. Eve is also the founder of The Pearl Society and an officer of the International Pearl Association. Visit the website at www.evejewelry.com or Eve’s blog at www.evejewelry.wordpress.com.