ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: Jenny Jafek-Jones

• Tell us a little bit about your shoppe.  At the crimson poppy, exquisite paper flowers blossom every day to bring joy forever. The seeds of our garden are vibrant specialty papers from around the world. We take them in hand, then nurture and trim them, until colorful wonders of petal and leaf emerge. Guided by Mother Nature, we craft every bloom to bring beauty to life. It’s a lot of time and meticulous craftsmanship, but I love the idea of transforming ordinary paper into something extraordinary. This year the paper flowers have been featured in BRIDES, Southern Weddings, PaperRunway, and Meeting & Conventions magazines (along with some wonderful online press), and they’ll be part of gift bags for the GBK 2012 Golden Globes and GBK 84th Annual Academy Awards gift lounge attendees. It makes me feel better about all the time I invest – one to four hours! – in each flower. 🙂

• What is your favorite product in your shoppe and why?  Favorite with a story: Bird of Paradise. Personal favorite flower: Not poppies, believe it or not. Iris. Favorite to make: Pine cones. Fan favorite: An oversize rose made of vintage sheet music.

• When you’re not handcrafting these incredibly realistic paper flower arrangements?  I used to be an avid reader, but I’ve been so busy that the book my husband bought me last Christmas is still only half-read! It’s a good problem to have, business-wise, but it’s changed my views on what really counts: my time away from the crimson poppy is all about family and close friends.

• What do you like best about The Artisan Group?  Great opportunities, great talent to surround yourself with, great resources; for me, the best part would have to be the great people who are part of The Artisan Group. I don’t actually “know” any of them and most of us are unlikely to ever meet offline, but being part of a group whose members genuinely want to see each other succeed, share hard-earned knowledge unstintingly, and focus on how they can help each other while helping themselves… well, it’s practically a paradise! 😀

Jenny will participate as a display participant in the upcoming luxury celebrity gift lounge on January 13-14, 2012 at the L’Ermitage Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, in honor of the The 2012 Golden Globes Nominees and Presenters.