With Sandy Squillo's fine eye for sparkling detail and her husband's handiness in framing, the finished result of her "bejeweled art" is captivating. Scroll down for more of her artwork...
Sandy Squillo’s voice definitely sparkles as she describes the joy she finds in creating her own unique “Bejeweled Art” where each picture scintillates as a one-of-a-kind.
When starting her home-based business in Clarendon Hills, IL, “Wired on Waverly” ten years ago, she concentrated primarily on making hand-wired jewelry. Then, about two years ago, she expanded her line to include bejeweled pictures. By the way, Waverly is the street where she lives.
Combing through vintage shops searching for “jewels” she can repurpose, is a perpetual treasure hunt for Sandy. The time-consuming work of building an extensive, costume jewelry inventory of colors, sizes and shapes, is an ongoing challenge. Luckily, friends, family and acquaintances often offer up vintage pieces they have salvaged from their own shopping excursions or by downsizing jewelry collections.
“I actually do spend the majority of my time hunting down vintage pieces to repurpose and transform,” Sandy explains. “There might be as many as 100 individual jeweled pieces in the smallest work I make, and that can climb to 400, depending on the size of the finished piece.”
Each jewel is individually glued down using five different types of adhesives that she has learned from experience are most effective. And though it might sound rather kitschy to mount her creations on black velvet, that choice sets off her work, and its many faceted dimensions, to its best advantage. Sandy counsels her customers not to hang her artwork in a high humidity area like the bathroom so as not to impact the adhesives used.
Although Sandy is self-taught, she has always been involved in arts from decorative painting on furniture to painting sets and scenery for community theater.
When it comes to bejeweled art, she says she loves all subject matter but is especially charmed by making jeweled Christmas trees or elegant dresses.
“With bejeweled art, each piece made is a unique creation,” she explains. “I like to work on subject matter with a strong silhouette always leaning toward an outcome that’s elegant.”
She describes her work as a labor of love finding it so calming and meditative that she’ll often lose track of time.
Sandy expressed gratefulness for her husband’s able assistance on framing where he’ll often repurpose vintage frames refurbished to fit her finished projects. Find her work online (see below) and at various local art fairs such as the holiday 2024 market at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, IL later in the Fall.
Prices range from $195 for the smallest framed pieces up to $550 for the largest.
You can find Sandy on both Instagram and Facebook at:
Email: wowbysandy@gmail.com
Sandy Squillo in her booth at a recent outdoor art fair.
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