Wax sculpture of a dog head gives a lasting image of a pet. (Donna Meistrich)
A lot of things in Donna Meistrich’s world have a touch of fantasy: Her bulletin board tacks are people, her fine jewelry looks cosmic, and she collects toys. But one part of it is a dream that actually came true. She dreamed of working as an artist to support herself, and she has done that all her life!
As a child she learned to make what other children received from the store. “I would say, ‘I want a Barbie doll,’ and my mom would take me to the craft store to buy the craft materials and I’d make one. They wouldn’t buy me regular toys, but any kind of art materials they would gladly buy for me,” she said. She was on the path to creativity that would give her a way to express herself throughout her life.
Simple and elegant pearl drop necklace with diamond. (Ronnie Tsai)
Even in high school, when her friends were making money baby-sitting, she made money by selling them beaded jewelry. She also gave art lessons to the kids, teaching them to model natural clay that she dug up.
But there is a reason why few artists support themselves with art. It is a fluctuating, risky source of income and Donna has had times when she did not know where her next dollars would come from. She said there were plenty of times she didn’t have enough to eat, but that just spurred her on.
On wings of fancy, earrings won the Tahitian Award 2005. (Ronnie Tsai)
Once she went to an arts and crafts fair with her jewelry and business was not good. She was leaving with a big supply of unsold wares, not sure how she would make it home with the little gas she had in her car, when right at the doorway she noticed another vendor who looked as if he had had a bad day, too. She started talking with him and he asked about her work. He took a look at her items and bought some on the spot, also signing her up to do more work for him. So she had not only money to get home but also a new customer who became a longtime buyer.
Mentors From Mid-Air
The sculpture Donna made during a TV interview, which she donated to the station's fundraiser. (Donna Meistrich)
In another amazing episode, she went on an interview for a job as an art director for an agency. Why did she choose that job? She laughs, “It was about ‘Art,’ right? I knew about art, I’d been doing it all my life. And ‘Director,’ that means you tell people what to do—I can do that!” Nothing daunted her.
She continues the story: “So there I was, sitting with the other applicants, with my little sketch pad, while they all had fancy presentation folders.” She still can’t explain why the man who interviewed her took so much time with her, but he brought her around to meet every person on the staff and explained what each one did. At the end he said, “If any of this interests you, go to the Art Academy.”
Taking a break from her chalk art work, Donna Meistrich at the Italian Street Painting Festival. (Alexander Bendahan)
She enrolled in the San Francisco Academy of Art immediately. She attended the Academy through grants and scholarships and made extra money by finding businesses that needed graphics projects done. She made her school assignments fit the needs of these businesses, and the businesses paid her for the work she was submitting to her teachers.
The Move to Making Jewelry
Drawing on the sidewalk for Youth in Art. (Alexander Bendahan)
On her parents’ 25th anniversary, she decided to change from graphics to jewelry. She uses wax molding techniques for her fine jewelry and shapes casual pieces from polymer clay. Donna was again undaunted when she entered the North American Tahitian Pearl contest. As a woman artist who was also an unknown, it was highly unlikely that she would win, but she did- First Place for North America in the Earrings Division of the Tahitian Pearl Trophy Competition of 2004—2005!
For her newest project she learned animation so that she could create her own cartoon. For her father’s birthday one year she made him some colorful, fun, decorative bulletin board tacks she called “Tacky People.” She used this idea to create fun jewelry, and then wanted to use them as characters in a cartoon. Collaborating with friends and family, she says she has made good progress on the cartoon and expects it to be finished by Christmas. Her musician husband, also a highly creative person, did the voice for one of the characters.
Sculpted lion pose caught in wax. (Donna Meistrich)
Donna appreciates the people in her life for their constant support. Her parents always encouraged her artwork while, at the same time, having her attend business school as a backup. One of her teachers in elementary school allowed her to create a “mockette” model to show the information she wanted to convey instead of writing a report. And her husband inspires her. She says, “I’m fascinated by his mind, I’ve never met anyone so incredible.”
Her overall view of Life is that it is a collage made of various pieces of information, or a tapestry on which each piece fits in its right place. To her, God is the culmination of all beliefs put together to create the whole. She also feels that art is vital to life and that if people don’t use their creativity, it will dry up.
Chalk drawing at the Italian Street Painting Festival. (Alexander Bendahan)
Her love of art and gratitude for the support she has had might be the reasons she takes part in fundraisers for the Arts. For the last 15 years she has participated as one of the 'madonnari' (street painters) in the Italian Street Painting Festival at the Mission San Rafael Arcangel in June to raise money for the “Youth in Arts” organization. This year she learned to use live streaming video from the festival on her Web site. And this July she gave her support to KMTP TV, a multicultural, non-commercial, public television station in Palo Alto. She formed a clay Tacky People figure as she was talking with the host during a fund-raising segment at their studio so the audience could watch her create the piece. She also donated a Tacky People sculpture to the TV station for the fundraiser.
She is already planning her next project: to join her husband in his work to bring art and music to kids in depressed areas—and maybe help some of them make their own dreams come true.
Donna Meistrich lives with her husband in Northern California and can be reached at Donna@TackyPeople.com. You can see more of her work at http://www.tackypeople.com.
