We recently connected with Michel McNabb and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Michel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?
My parents did everything right to encourage me and my brother to be creative. I grew up in the country but close to downtown Cincinnati, Ohio, Growing up in the midwest with parents who were raised in the city was very influential for me as an artist. I always felt different and the kids at school would often laugh at my outfits because we would shop in NY in the summer and the styles were a bit ahead of the clothing in the Midwest.
My mother was from Manhattan and lived in Miami as a young woman where she met my father. They both worked at Burdines, a very nice retail department store in Miami so they had a great sense style. My Dad was in Men’s clothing then switched to furniture. I grew up looking at Architectural Digest at the breakfast table and playing with the chains that held together the fabric swatches.
When we would see things shopping my Mom would usually say, “We can make that” and we would start a a craft project. She could sew and was very crafty. My brother and I took painting and ceramics classes at the YMCA. There was always a project going on our back table and rainy days were best spent making something.
So instead of buying me pom poms when all the girls were into that in second grade my mom saved the orange bags that the newspaper came in and cut them into tiny strips for months until she had a set of Pom Poms for me. As a second grader I wanted to fit in and cried because my Pom Poms weren’t the store bought fluffy kind that the cool girls had. This was probably the most valuable lesson she ever taught me. She ended up buying me a yellow fluffy pair but we kept the orange ones and because of the hard work and detail she put in to making them I later realized how special they really were. I mean, anyone can buy Pom Poms but my Mom made them for me. She is such an amazing person.
Both of my parents always encouraged me to make things and have been my biggest advocates. When I decided to become a Fine Art major in college they were thrilled. It is funny that other family members said, “What kind of job are you going to get with that?” My parents never questioned my decision and bragged to everyone about it. My Dad will never even let me throw out even my reject projects. Everything is framed and the ceramics pieces are all over the house.
After College I moved to Spain, where I lived for 18 years. That is when I began making jewelry. My Dad had retired from the furniture world and actually took a sales position with a jewelry wholesale manufacturer in New Mexico for a bit. . I began carving wax and casting my own creations. Soon I had a pretty large collection of jewelry as well as a specific line of Equestrian Jewelry. I grew up riding horses so this was a fun niche for me. I would make the jewelry and send it to my parents. They would go to Craft Shows in the Cincinnati area and eventually my Dad and I began selling the Equestrian line wholesale at a market that targets that sector. Since he was in sales, he taught me everything he knew. It developed quite well and I still sell that line at many retail stores throughout the U.S. and a bit Internationally as well.
I am always wanting to learn and create new things so I began enameling and now I am more interested in making art jewelry and unique one of a kind pieces. I combine my wax carving and casting with the enamel pieces.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Michel McNabb
Michel McNabb is a jewelry artist from Cincinnati, Ohio who now resides in South Florida where she teaches and manages the jewelry studio at the Boca Raton Museum of Art School. She combines her skills of carving wax, metal smithing and enameling to create unique jewelry and vessels.
Michel earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Denison University and moved to Spain after graduating. This is where she began creating jewelry, learning traditional metal smithing skills from local craftsmen and artisans while implementing skills from her fine arts background. She has been creating jewelry using the lost wax casting method since the year 2000.
“Jewelry has always been an obsession for me. As a young girl I could sit for hours on my mother’s bed going through her jewelry box. I began making jewelry at eight years old of multicolored telephone wires and bubble gum wrappers. As a college student I specialized in intaglio etching printmaking, where metal is etched using a fine stylus. My jewelry is made in a similar way when I carve into wax with very fine tools in order to create detail.”
Michel’s newest body of work is comprised if vitreous enamel and cast pieces. “I love the magic of combining these two techniques to create sculptural jewelry with color. I am fascinated by the hues and beauty of the glass juxtaposed with the pure metal.“
I am very inspired by museums and items found in archeological digs. I love imagining what life was like in long lost civilizations. The beauty and art that was part of their every day lives worn away by time make my imagination run wild. For this pair of earrings I have taken the original button earrings to create a bowl that is “unearthed” from an excavation. It is paired with a triangle that is carved in wax and cast. The cast piece is signed inside. The modern triangle is a smooth piece juxtaposed with the ancient excavated bowl.
My equestrian collection can be found in tack stores throughout the country. The one of a kind art jewelry pieces are showcased at the Boca Raton Museum Art School or can be found at the fine art and craft shows that I do.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is creating something beautiful from nothing. I love the feeling when I am working. It is kind of like a trance state that I go into when my hands start working. They are listening to my mind and my heart. I become extremely focused and time looses all meaning. I can work for hours and it seems like no time has passed.
I think a lot of feeling is put into the pieces that I create. I hope that when people look at what I make or wear a piece of my jewelry that they can feel that. I love the process as well as the outcome of a finished piece of work.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I suppose that I have had to pivot several times within my career as an artist and each time it has been to reach a higher personal level both artistically and personally. There are two life changing moments that really pushed me out of my comfort zone. The first change is when we moved from Spain to Florida. I had a very different lifestyle there and was able to have quiet time to create from my home studio. When I move to Florida I began to travel more to sell my equestrian collection of jewelry. The business flourished and it was great fun but I had less time to create new pieces.
After one of my Aunts died whom I was very close to I decided to take an enameling class at an art center where I live. Since I had many years of experience as a bench jewelry, especially carving wax and casting, that school asked me to teach a class. That has been a wonderful experience and I now teach wax carving and casting as well as enameling at the Boca Raton Museum of Art School. Sometimes it is a little difficult balancing teaching, creating new work and selling my jewelry, but I would not change a thing. I love my classes and the students. We have so much fun and passing on my knowledge is very rewarding.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.michelmcnabb.com
- Instagram: michelmcnabb
- Facebook: MichelMcNabb
Image Credits
Michel McNabb