Milanese design and Venetian tradition blend in jewelry of Murano blown glass made by Antares jeweller Fulvia Notari. Twenty six years ago, Fulvia, an architect from Milan, moved to near Venice, fell in love with Murano glass and decided to create "wearable objects".
With love and time she came to know the characteristics of the 'glass material', and in 1995 founded Antares where she began her small artisan business journey creating artistic jewelry. Her architectural training allowed her to grasp innovative aspects of the glass and her jewellery blends the brilliance and opacity of glass in forms that adorn the body of a woman.
Fulvia, what made you decide to create jewels in blown Murano glass?
When I came in the Venice I started working with a glass designer who led me to the furnaces of Murano. Here I became haunted by the process, when a neutral mixture of earth turns into a unified object with beautiful colours, and the glass workers move as in a dance with precise rhythms creating the shapes. The purity and brilliance of coloured Murano glass inspired me to create objects for the person.
Jewelry of blown glass? Not many people create this art.
I liked to investigate the symbolic meaning of jewelry and to communicate, but I did not want something heavy like solid glass.
I wanted something ethereal and I thought about the blown coloured glass. My ambition was to create with opalescent glass that is not transparent and ‘hides’ its true nature, while just touching it you feel its lightness.
At first I struggled to find blowers who understood my creations. For those born and raised in Murano glass 'must' be transparent while, from Milan, I had no such mental limitation and I could see the potential. With time I was shown to be right: more and more women appreciate my pieces jewelry by wearing them with a smile!
Have you tried various materials for your jewelry, where is 'Antares' going today?
'Antares' was born thanks to the thrust of my husband who stood by me in the first years. Now we are three and we do everything: a Murano artisan glass blower, and Dolo, we perform the work of creation and the framing of the jewelry.
In jewelry we combine various materials: metals to fabrics, from steel to satin, from skins to silk. The jewelry is a design project that has the Murano glass as the main theme. We have had collaborations with leading Italian brands such as Alviero Martini, Trussardi, Fendi.
For a Japanese designer, Hiroko Koshino, I made a special collection, of necklaces combined with fabrics from his collection, that was exhibited in Paris.
Fulvia, what feelings you want to convey through your jewelry?
I wish all my Antares jewelry to communicate the 'joy of life' through the colour, the design, the play of "tone on tone" between the matte and glossy, and the combination with transparent glass.
I am happy and satisfied if I can contribute to being the companion of a woman, throughout her days, making her feel unique and important wearing one of my creations – fine blown Murano glass from Antares.
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