Romancing her stones

Joyce Penas Pilarsky never ceases to surprise me. Three weeks ago, when I was in Paris, I received a text message from her inviting me to an art fair in Paris where her photography on street children of the Philippines was on exhibit. The art fair was composed of several galleries in Europe and only three were chosen from Germany, where she is presently based. Kohler, one of the art galleries chosen is where Joyce Pilarsky’s photography is on exhibit. I knew she was a painter, a sculptor, a jewelry and dress designer, but I did not know that she was a photographer as well. In Germany she has had some art exhibits and in 2007, she was awarded the most Outstanding Artist in Baden-Wurtenburg. Aside from painting on canvas, she paints on porcelain plates, on wine coolers, on bowls. Her medium is oil, acrylic and watercolor. And her favorite theme is nature and flowers. She sculpts bronze statues but complains that bronze is a very expensive medium so she would rather paint.

As Joyce Penas, before she settled down to being a happily married hausfrau, she was one of Gary Flores house models for the daily fashion shows at the Hyatt Hotel and Silahis. At that time she was already dabbling in fashion and jewelry design but put these ambitions aside when she got married and settled down in Germany.

“I always dreamed of being a fashion or jewelry designer. One day I told myself I will combine both. So I bought a lot of semi precious stones like (agate, citrine, corrals, pearls of all colors, amethyst, turquoise, onyx, ruby cabochons, garnets, jade, quartz, etc..) during my travels to Thailand, Hong Kong, Vietnam and the Philippines and started to form them into bracelets, earrings, necklaces, leg adornments, body adornments. Then I though of designing dresses and gowns with these stones. My friends liked my designs and started to order from me. That was the start of my small business. I love these semi-precious stones. I get a high when I scoop a handful in my palm. I stare at them, I caress them and ideas of design come into play. “

During fashion week in Manila, Joyce Pilarsky showed her collection of gowns and cocktail dresses which were all embellished by her semi-precious stones. She designed them and were executed by her friend John Guarnes. She also showed her collection of bracelets (which were worn either high or low in the arm), earrings, hair pieces, leg jewelry, and body jewelry. All of them are set in silver which make them very reasonably priced. Judging from the numerous orders that she received, her collection of cocktail dresses, gowns and jewelry pieces were a big hit with the clients during fashion week.

* * *

For information, call: 632-8721173 and 09158696078. Or e-mail jpilarsky@yahoo.com.