Editor’s note: This is part of “Four of a Kind,” a recurring Arts & Culture feature. Each month, four new artists share their takes on the local art scene. In addition to individual online posts, you can find all four features as a single spread in this week’s print edition.
Lauren Moody is a Morganton-base jewelry designer and owner of Fox & Beaux Boutique in downtown Asheville.
Xpress: Is there an upcoming craft event happening in Asheville that you’re looking forward to seeing?
We attend local gem shows as much as we can. The Gem & Lapidary Wholesalers Show is coming up Tuesday, Oct. 29-Wednesday, Oct. 30, at the WNC Agricultural Center.
Otherwise, we don’t really attend too many other jewelry events, but we’d be interested if we had better outlets to learn about other local jewelry events. We’ve talked about hosting different quarterly events at our store, but pulling these off is tough sometimes.
Outside of crafts, what other upcoming local arts happening intrigues you?
This isn’t so much an arts event, more entrepreneurial, but we would like to start attending 1 Million Cups events [held each Wednesday, 9-10 a.m., at Hatch Innovation Hub] for a bit of networking, support and education toward scaling our business. I live in Morganton, so it’s harder for me to learn about and attend local events sometimes. 1 Million Cups events are on my radar, though.
What current project are you working on that you’re especially excited about?
My team is highly creative, so we all work really well together to make art that most importantly we have the passion and desire to create. The energy we put into the jewelry we create can most certainly be felt in our store, and I think one reason we have so many loyal customers. Stones carry energy, and jewelry can be worn as talismans of love, protection, guidance, hope and remembrance, so the energy you put into and around these creations is so important.
I’m excited to have such a talented team who listens and guides our clients during their dream custom projects — wedding and engagement ring designs — but to also have a team that plays so well outside of the box and pushes through the design boundaries. We are truly building something special, and this business is well beyond me and what my vision for Fox & Beaux ever was. I’m lucky to be a part of it.
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