My name is Donata Lewandowski Guerra and I have two shops: OldBroomStreet (decorative decoupage items) and BordeauxLaneGallery (jewelry).
Where are you located?
I live in MacGregor West in Cary where I work both in my kitchen and dining room area. I guess one might consider these my “studio” areas. We are empty nesters, so these rooms are able to serve multiple purposes by now.
What do you create?
My decoupage works consists of boxes, tables, cachepots, birdhouses, etc. as well as canvases and notecards embellished with art historical imagery that I love, be it Faberge, neoclassical, medieval, renaissance or from other epochs. Operating on the principle that “if I can put it on a box, I can trap it under resin on a pendant”, my jewelry design grew from that. I also love working with semiprecious stones.
What is your favorite place to visit in the "triangle"?
My husband and I love the Glenwood South area with its restaurants and clubs. It also is nice to have a daughter in that area.
When did you start creating?
I took up the vocation of decoupeur in October, 2007. Luckily I have a cousin who is a master artist who gave me insights into the process. I began jewelry creation last summer. In the past, as a customer, I ordered a good deal of work from a local Cary-Raleigh artist (Lauren van Hemert), but there was a kind of spin I sought on items to wear that was a natural extension of the decoupage process that would also incorporate my passion for semiprecious stones. Happily this resonates with members of the public who share my passions.
What is your most cherished handmade item?
When I was 16 my mother gave me a White of Mebane bedroom suite in French style. The handcrafted furniture industry rooted in North Carolina no longer exists, making this ensemble even more meaningful to me now.
What inspires you?
Art historical epochs inspire me. My mother was a museum maven and this continues the pleasure we derived from viewing paintings and other art. My husband cannot stand museums, leaving me to do all the traipsing. I had a wonderful art history professor at Swarthmore, and probably should have majored in this subject.
What are your goals?
My business objective is to continue creating and connecting with customers and finding different venues to sell my work directly to the public.. The entire process, from conception to closing a sale (particularly in real space), is euphoric. Personal goals include writing as many sonnets/poems as I can, revising screenplays and putting them up on Scribd.com/DLGuerra, and continuing to rewrite one novel and write another. I have been able to write screenplays on assignment locally and had a play produced at Sarah Lawrence College some years ago.
What do you do when you are not creating?
During the summer I manage to swim one mile a day. But I view every second as one involved with creation. It is my philosophy that every moment can be a creative one, that being the nature of humanity.
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