Celebrate Luckey & Merrill New Studio!

Open Studio and Trunk Show featuring Owen Sea Luckey, a textile artist and Kristin Merrill, a jeweler and sculptor. While the lines and structure of Owen Sea Luckey's creations are familiar she pushes the boundaries of what you expect, incorporating holes, bright pops of color and funky embellishments.Those eclectic interests and skills weave together to become RE-DO, a line of whimsical re-imagined sweaters. Luckey transforms recycled garments into wearable art using traditional craft techniques— knitting, felting, sewing, embroidery. Each one-of-a-kind sweater enjoys unique embellishments: antique buttons; repurposed fabrics; hand-knit accents."I love to create one-of-a-kind pieces that people can't wait to wear, " Owen says. Kristin Merrill's sculptures incorporate pieces of driftwood indigenous to the Short Beach shoreline. To them she adorns pearls, hand-cast sterling elements, copper and symbolic found objects. "The driftwood goes through a metamorphosis at the end of its life and falls into the sea, and finds its way to the shore. By resurrecting it in my sculptures, I create a new phase in its life". The same transformation echoes in her jewelry, where individual elements - sterling silver, semiprecious stones, amber, pearls, and driftwood - join together to become something new and different. Celebrate both artist's new studio at an opening reception Friday, December 14 from 5 to 8 pm. Open House Saturday, December 15 from 10 am to 4 pm. Free and open to the public. 181 Main Street, Branford. 203-481-1100. www.owensealuckey.com, www.kristinmerrill.com