Star here: I’ve known about Conni Mainne for at least twenty years, but we just started working together three years ago. Conni overheard me speaking with another vendor at a trade show and she joined the conversation. Next thing you know, I was admiring her lusciously feminine jewelry designs while we negotiated terms for representation.
Conni’s 18k gold jewelry and graceful botanical motifs are a perfect fit for our gallery and have proven to be extremely popular with our customers. As for me, I’m thrilled that we were finally able to strike up a friendship after orbiting each other’s worlds for so many years. I can’t wait to try her famous cheesecake; if it’s half as good as her jewelry design, I know I’ll be in heaven. Here’s a little more insight into the engaging Conni Mainne:
Star: When the well runs dry, how do you recharge your creativity?
Conni Mainne: I dance. It used to be rock ‘n roll dancing, then samba, and now it’s rumba or salsa.
Star: Are there any special objects that you keep in your studio for inspiration?
Conni Mainne: Windows—I have a fabulous view of the Pacific Ocean through the trees. I can’t create without a view.
Star: Where’s the most beautiful place you’ve ever been?
Conni Mainne: On the hillside in Sounion, Greece.
Star: What is your fondest memory?
Conni Mainne: A fabulous party that came about on the spur of the moment when I lived in a very small village on the northern California coast called Marshall. Population 50--says so right on the green road sign. The fishermen had come in with their gill nets full of rock crabs (called stone crabs in Florida) that can’t be sold here. So we got a bunch of friends together and feasted. It was an enchanted evening.
Star: In what other areas of your life, do you let your artistry shine?
Conni Mainne: I’ve made my small home very cozy and inviting. Guests are always saying how comfortable they feel, and it’s my MOST favorite compliment. I also love cooking, and I take great pleasure in offering something new to friends.
Star: What’s your specialty?
Conni Mainne: Hands down: my cheesecake. My guilty pleasure is rich, fattening food. The whole range. Oh dear
Star: What is your personal motto?
Conni Mainne: A Rumi poem: “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. When the soul lays down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about. Ideas, language, even the phrase ‘each other’ doesn’t make any sense.”
Star: Describe your studio in five words or less.
Conni Mainne: Small, tidy, and surprisingly complete!
Star: What’s the best advice you could give to a new artist?
Conni Mainne: Make your art something you do every single day, in some form. This keeps the taps flowing and increases your skills and confidence.
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