Avery Applegate: Mourning Glory Jewelry

04/12/19 • 30 min

Avery Applegate is a jewelry artist who loves hunting for forgotten treasures with a dark twist. She mixes these findings into assemblage art jewelry. Avery explores nature, sidewalks, and thrift/antique shops to collect treasures such as photographs, vintage jewelry, bones, and typewriter keys.

Her original jewelry line, Just My Type Jewelry, features vintage typewriter keys. After attending the Ghoultide Gathering Halloween art show, she was inspired to add a darker, more serious line. She named it Mourning Glory Jewelry.

Avery taught art for three decades.

As a child, Avery’s mother needed to check Avery’s pockets before doing her laundry. Avery would bring home shells, bones, nightcrawlers, and more from her explorations of the small family farm. Avery’s mother nurtured her collecting habit. She taught her how to make a ring out of a bone, which Avery still has. Avery’s mother sparked her love of Halloween, reading her bedtime stories that spun-up her imagination.

She loved coloring in a book of Brothers Grimms tales. Avery was drawn to creepy and weird shows like the Addams Family, Dark Shadows, The Twilight Zone, and more.

Avery enjoys working on jewelry because it enables her to tell stories with all the small things she’s collected over the years. For example, an old belt buckle can become a frame for a photograph.

Avery shared her sources. When she is out in nature, she looks for things that call to her. She is often found hunting in thrift and antique shops. She got her job at Rusty’s Antiques because she shopped there so much. People will drop off things to her. Once she came home and found an old typewriter on her doorstep.

The rarest and most valuable items in her collection are pieces of Victorian mourning jewelry. Victorians would take hair from a deceased loved-one and have it made into jewelry.

The weirdest place Avery has ever searched for antiques was an old privy (outhouse). People used to throw trash down their privy like bottles and crocks. To clarify -all the nasty bits were fully decomposed by the time Avery dug around in them.

Abandoned houses call to Avery. She gets permission to explore them now after being arrested for entering one without permission back in her college days.

Avery connects with the people in old photographs. She is especially drawn to the eyes. She collects photographs, tin types, and daguerreotypes. She passes by a lot of pictures – she doesn’t connect to them all. She thinks the people from the past would be appalled to know their photographs are now being cut-up for art. Avery met Wes Cowan from the TV show, Antiques Roadshow. She was wearing a tin type she had made into a necklace. She asked Wes what he thought about it. He said old photographs should be kept out and enjoyed. Avery has a sense of humor about couples. If they don’t look happy, she has no issues using them in separate art pieces.

The first Halloween art show Avery attended was Ghoultide Gathering. As a diehard, she would get in line at 3:00 a.m. In 2016, she showed the organizer, Scott Smith, some of her work. The next year the show transitioned to Bewitching Peddlers of Halloween and Avery was invited to be a participating artist.

One of her favorite pieces is a hand-blown eyeball from a German doll. She set it in the center of a 1940’s circle pin. The collector who purchased it wore it on his black tuxedo.

The name Mourning Glory is a nod to Victorian mourning, which has always fascinated her. She likes the ritual of that period, but she’s thankful she lives in our time. Some Victorian death rituals are reemerging, like green burials, post-mortem photography, and family involvement.

Follow Avery on her Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/mourninggloryjewelry/. She also sells through Indigenous Craft in Cincinnati. She will also be a Bewitching Peddlers of Halloween artist this year.

Avery taught art for three decades.

She loved coloring in a book of Brothers Grimms tales. Avery was drawn to creepy and weird shows like the Addams Family, Dark Shadows, The Twilight Zone, and more.

Avery enjoys working on jewelry because it enables her to tell stories with all the small things she’s collected over the years. For example, an old belt buckle can become a frame for a photograph.

The rarest and most valuable items in her collection are pieces of Victorian mourning jewelry. Victorians would take hair from a deceased loved-one and have it made into jewelry.

Abandoned houses call to Avery. She gets permission to explore them now after being arrested for entering one without permission back in her college days.

One of her favorite pieces is a hand-blown eyeball from a German doll. She set it in the center of a 1940’s circle pin. The collector who purchased it wore it on his black tuxedo.

Previous Episode

Tanya Casteel: Painter of Cosmic Animals

My guest for episode 4 was artist Tanya Casteel, painter of Cosmic Animals. Tanya helped us explore what we can learn from animals that are associated with Halloween. I first met Tanya when she was creating beautiful sea-creature pottery through her business, Cephalopod Ink. She wrote and illustrated her first children’s book “Waiting Just for You Lullaby,” after having her daughter. Tanya now works in watercolors and paints animals in a cosmic, galaxy style. She lives in Asheville, NC.

Tanya has been creating since childhood. In college she majored in photography and took ceramic classes. She started her career working in pottery. She does not miss working in pottery; she did it to her fullest and was excited to transition to painting. Her transition to painting was inspired by her mediation practice. During her practice, she was visited by a raven who appeared in the cosmic style she paints in today. Tanya loves animals. Her favorites are raven and octopus.

Tanya explained what a spirit animal is. There are several names: spirit animals, totem animals, but she prefers her term, cosmic animals. It is the wisdom that we can learn from observing animals. It doesn’t matter how we observe animals. It could be through mediation, watching them in nature, or looking at them in books/videos. Thorough these observations we can take lessons for better actions in our lives.

The cosmic animal one identifies with can change over one’s lifecycle and some people resonate with more than one animal at a time.

Next, we transitioned to talking about a few animals associated to Halloween and what we can learn from them as cosmic animals. Note: the animals we discussed are primarily black (or other dark shades). The color black is associated to darkness, night, shadows, and mystery – which fits perfectly with Halloween!

One of the most common Halloween images is a hissing black cat. In Ancient Egypt, cats were cherished and worshipped. But in 1233, Pope Gregory IX identified cats, especially black ones, as being in league with Satan. Soon after cats became associated with witches; suspected with being their familiars.

The independent nature of cats likely contributed to those associations. Cats are grounded and clever. What can we learn from them as cosmic animals? Black cats can invite us to explore areas that are hidden from sight, but in a wise way to keep us protected. Color does matter when it comes cat symbolism. Each cat and each color has a different message and meaning. For example, black panthers are associated with the moon. Cheetahs are associated to intervals and speed.

After discussing cats, we moved to on to the creepy, crawly spider. After being admired in ancient times for their web building skills, spiders, also became associated to witches. There is a superstition that if you see a spider on Halloween, it is a deceased loved one looking over you.

Tanya loves spider messengers. They are creative; their webs are symbols for spinning stories. They teach us to look at our life stories. Are our stories helpful or are we getting stuck in our own webs? Spiders teach us to clean up the cobwebs in our lives. Spiders are patient. They create beautiful webs and wait for nourishment to come to them. Their infinity symbol shaped bodies symbolize the balance of masculine and feminine energy.

Many of the creatures associated to Halloween fly – like bats. Picture ancient Celtics celebrating Samhain (pronounced Sow-WHEN, the holiday that is the origin of Halloween) around bonfires. The bats would be attracted to the insects that were attracted to the light of the fire. Stories like Bram Stoker’s Dracula, further cemented the association of bats to Halloween and horror.

Bats are excellent communicators – they have a unique skill of echolocation. They can go into the dark and come out unharmed. They teach us to not fear darkness - it is a way for us to grow and learn. Bats give birth while hanging upside down. Their babies are born being pushed up into the world. They show us to be independent and do things in a non-traditional way. Bats are one of the best controllers of mosquitos. They can show us not to let annoying pests get to us.

Like bats, most owls are nocturnal. Owls would be seen during Samhain bonfires. They have big mysterious eyes and scream and screech in the darkness. They have also been associated to witches. There is a myth that seeing an owl means someone will die soon.

Owl has similar themes to the other animals – navigating the dark. Owls can be a messenger to help people transition. You can feel sympathy and support from an owl. Different owls have different messages. What it is doing is more important that what it looks like. If an owl is flying silently, it can be telling us to be quiet – that we don’t have to be so loud about what we are doing. A loud owl may be telling us to speak up for ourselves.

We ca...

Next Episode

Amy Schneider: Obsessed Curator and Photographer

Curious about the destinations of Halloween art pieces? The story doesn’t end with the artists finishing the pieces of art...their stories continue in the hands of collectors.

I’m pleased to introduce you to Amy Schneider, one of the most Halloween obsessed people I’ve ever met. Amy has collected Halloween art for over two decades. She is a passionate advocate for original Halloween art and artists.

Amy loves collecting Halloween treasures and oddities and using them to build magazine-cover worthy displays. Each year she conjures up a new theme. Once the display is up, she welcomes community groups, students, friends, artists, and more to come enjoy her collection. You may also see Amy capturing the magic at Bewitching Peddlers of Halloween this year – she’s the show photographer!

When she isn’t busy with Halloween activities, you may find her with her husband and sons, working at the town veterinary clinic with her dad and brother, or taking pictures of shelter pets looking for new homes. Amy is the neighbor and best friend of Halloween artist, Avery Applegate, my guest in episode 5.

Amy has always loved Halloween. Her birthday is near Halloween; she often had a Halloween themed party in lieu of a birthday party. Her dad loved to pretend to be a ghost and freak out her friends. Her mom is a wonderful decorator, who is skilled at haunting their Victorian home.

Amy inherited the collector gene from her parents. Her mom collects vintage Ouija boards and her dad collects veterinary antiques. They’ve always had strange things like Victorian hair art. Her aunt would take her on trips and encourage her to get a piece of art to commemorate the trip.

Amy loves her “odd” pets. Her wonderful dog, Homer, is missing an eye and has an overbite. Her cat is missing a leg, and the office cat is missing an eye. Amy sees joy and beauty in things that others might think is weird.

Amy may have slept in the same bed as famous conjoined twins, Chang and Eng Bunker. They visited a hotel in her town. After the hotel closed, the furnishings went up for auction. Amy’s mom purchased the most beautiful bed in the auction. Amy’s mom concluded it must have been from the room the Bunker twins stayed in. They still have the bed in Amy’s childhood bedroom.

Amy gets excited when she thinks about getting new art. She loves knowing that a piece is the only one in the world. She’s a connector – she loves pairing up people with art.

She is always on the hunt – that’s how you curate a good collection. She purchases all year and finds Halloween and creepy art at regular art shows. One of her favorite finds was Genevieve Geer, who she nominated her to be in the Bewitching Peddlers of Halloween show.

Amy’s collection includes commissions, many of them featuring her dog, Homer. Nina Vivian Huryn did an incredible one for her, transforming a plain antique rocker into a masterpiece. She painted a skeletal body on it. The skull of the skeleton is on a throw pillow. Nina encouraged her to use the chair all the time – and that wiping Cheeto hands on it will only make it look better.

Amy gets in line in the middle of the night during shows - there’s so much fun in that. Collectors need to run from artist to artist in a total frenzy to get their favorite pieces.

Amy loves to see the new artists first. In Sam Keck’s first year, she purchased conjoined emu twins in a vintage baby carriage from her. The first time she met Stacey Walsh, she purchased a “sweetest thing” anthropomorphic lamb dressed as a witch.

Every year she does a featured room and moves decorations around. Usually she starts decorating in August. One year she turned her living room into a side-show. Last year she converted her living room into a Victorian funeral parlor featuring an ouija board by Isaac Bidwell.

Amy hosts several open houses a year, welcoming people of all ages. Amy once changed a woman’s mind about Halloween. She came in saying “I don’t think this will interest me.” At the end of the evening she admitted she really did like her collection.

Amy sees photography as an extension of her memory. As the Bewitching Peddlers of Halloween photographer, she will capture pictures of the artists with their favorite pieces and showcase happy collectors.

Everywhere she travels, she looks for something Halloween related. New York City is one of the best places to score treasures. Amy and Avery are planning a trip to the Mutter and Edward Gorey Museums. She encourages all of us to collect original art during our travels.

Follow Amy on Instagram, https://www.instagram.com/halloweenartcollector/.

My website is www.halloweenartandtravel.com. Tell a friend who loves Halloween to give us a listen.