About
" ... Oh, could we hear those whispering roses sweet,
Three beauties bending till their petals meet,
And blushing, mingling their sweet fragrance there
In language yet unknown to mortal ear ..."
This passage, translated from the Epic of Gilgamesh—a series of 7th-century Sumerian legends inscribed on stone tablets—perfectly describes the ancient allure of the rose. The Egyptians made incense with rose oil, believing they were closer to the gods when they were surrounded by the scent of the flower. The Greek poet Sappho named the rose “Queen of Flowers.” The rose is universally beautiful, so it is no surprise that it has become a symbol for the goddesses of beauty and love in many cultures: Ishtar of Mesopotamia, Isis of Egypt, Aphrodite of Greece, Venus of Rome. To gaze at a rose, to smell its fragrance, is to tap into a timeless knowledge of beauty.
Artist
When Michele Scholnick was a kid, she may have dreamt of being a ballerina, but jewelry designer didn’t cross her mind ’til some years later. She had passed a major deadline in her political science grad program, and decided on a whim to take some art classes. She tried glassblowing, graphic design, and jewelry. Somehow, even though she didn’t wear much jewelry at the time, Michele got hooked in two weeks.
Michele designs and creates her fabulous pieces in her studio in Venice, California. Within a two-minute walk from her studio, she can find any three of her current favorite meals: sushi, Argentinian tapas, or freshly-made, cinnamon-sugar-dusted mini-donuts. In her spare time, Michele likes to dance salsa, read fiction, and walk her dog, June, on the beach.
