Jewelry reflects beauty of the sea
By Catherine E. Toth
Advertiser Staff Writer
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The 28-year-old gets inspiration for her handmade jewelry from the ocean.
"Once I go out there, it just clears my mind," said Awber, who surfs at her usual spot — Tonggs — at least three times a week. "I'm so removed from the everyday grind, which drives me crazy. I can actually think out there."
She doesn't necessarily get ideas for her bracelets and earrings while surfing — she's too busy concentrating on catching waves — but surfing does put her in a calm, reflective mood conducive to creativity.
And her love for the water is obvious in her pieces.
Made with seashells and beach glass, her jewelry line, called Rona Marie, reflects the natural beauty of the ocean. Her Papohaku Beach rings ($35 each), for example, fuse the distinct personalities of shells and glass with the sturdiness of silver. Many of the shells she uses she found diving on the west side of Moloka'i.
"We were collecting all these shells and didn't know what to do with them," Awber said.
Uniqueness is very much a part of her line. Every piece is an original; she never makes the same one twice.
"Jewelry is a personal thing," said Awber, born and reared on O'ahu. "I wouldn't want to spend money on a piece and see someone at the mall wearing the same thing ... This way it's your own individual signature piece."
Awber started making jewelry almost two years ago as a way to improve her metal-sculpting skills. With a bachelor's degree in art from the University of Hawai'i, Awber is always dabbling in art, learning new techniques or experimenting with old ones. Jewelry making was something she did for fun.
But her pieces were so distinctive that it didn't take long before friends, then friends of friends, started asking for more.
So she launched a Web site — www.ronamarie.com — and started devoting more and more time to making jewelry.
"It's a release," she said. "It's like art in the same way that it gives me that same satisfaction. But art takes much longer to create."
Art has always been Awber's passion. She has done more than a dozen local art shows, displaying her skills in photography, fashion design, painting and collage. Her latest work, a mixed-media piece about ice cream, is on display at the Contemporary Museum Cafe through Jan. 6.
She continues to work on illustrations, many of which she has turned into T-shirts, also sold on her Web site.
And somehow, in between the jewelry making and shirt printing and working two jobs (at agnes b and the Pegge Hopper Gallery), Awber still finds time to surf.
Because she has to.
"That's how my best ideas come to me," she says.
