Photopalooza presents: The Gembalaya Collection

As a person, as a woman, as a parent I am all things unconventional. I'm a hippie, I'm a liberal, I'm a vegetarian, humanitarian, I'm progressive and old-fashioned and traditional. I'm spiritual and apolitical, I'm philosophical and cynical. It's all part of the whole.

About 2 months ago, I created a piece I call Harmony. I mentioned a bit about the differences in my immediate family that have always made our home, home of the oddballs, sanctuary for the misunderstood. It turned out to be one of my favorite pieces. Fast forward a few weeks and, I'm looking for a dish which would salvage our rapidly ripening produce in the crisper. In a strange, although habitual turn of events, I ended up on Wikipedia reading the etymology of jambalaya. I'm enamored by the old wives' tale about the wanderer's late night request. "Jean balayez!" Rough translation, "Jean, whip me up something". It hit me...the piece of jewelry I'd created, I just kinda whipped it up as if the process was being directed by divinity, The Gembalaya Collection was born.

My new line is centered around the fleeting patterns in my mind's eye, my flighty nature, and the clever way my life and art are always all encompassing yet free. I'm elegant, and bohemian, eclectic and classic, ethnic and generic, I am abstract. I am Tameka. This is Gembalaya.

The second piece in the collection is titled Jarabacoa, after the mountainous region of the Dominican Republic. This piece is colorful and spicy, fresh and flavorful. It is one of a kind and currently for sale in my Etsy shop, Pretty in Peace.