Connect with us

Eileen McClelland

Jewelry Designer Eve Alfille Finds Inspiration After Midnight

Being `in the zone’ leads to bursts of creativity.

mm

Published

on

Jewelry Designer Eve Alfille Finds Inspiration After Midnight
Eve Alfille
Eve Alfille Gallery, Evanston, IL

EVE ALFILLE, 87, has pursued so many interests in her life, listing them all seems to push the bounds of credulity.

She has degrees in business, historical linguistics and medieval poetry, and has worked as a CPA, stockbroker, teacher, field archaeologist, medical translator and sculptor in large metal forms. That was all before she launched her career as a jewelry designer and store owner.

She’s also been married to her husband, Maurice, for 65 years. “Well, I have lived a long time,” she says.

Alfille was born in France and moved with her family to Canada after World War II. It was her work as an archaeologist on a dig that brought her to jewelry 50 years ago. The inspiration came when she held in her hand a completely intact, small Phoenicean glass god that had been unearthed after 3,000 years. It made her think about the lasting power of precious objects.

“It’s a striking thing to find yourself face to face with something that presents the past in a graphic way,” she says. “I felt this compulsion to create something myself that could be discovered in 600 years and have some meaning. So, I started creating spontaneously.”

Alfille’s new pursuit led to her winning an AGTA Spectrum Award and launching new jewelry collections every spring and fall. She opened a gallery in downtown Evanston, IL, 35 years ago.

The inspiration for the gallery’s maximalist interior design is the fanciful caves she remembered seeing as a child in a Russian animated film called The Stone Flower. Minimalism in the form of bare white walls is not for her. “Minimalism stifles me. I can’t create like that.”

Advertisement

A night owl, Alfille finds that ideas for new collections come to her most often in the witching hour, after midnight. “When I am working on a new collection, a new series, I have some idea of what I want to do. But inspiration is a difficult process because you can’t really control it. Then all of a sudden at 3 or 4 a.m., I see it. You’re in the zone and you know just what you want to create, and that’s always nice. A happy moment.”

About half of her work involves custom design. “You end up translating your ideas according to what they need. Every day there is a strong psychological component. I like seeing people, I like the communication.

“I love it, which is why I have no intention of retiring.”

Advertisement

SPONSORED VIDEO

Retiring? Let Wilkerson Do the Heavy Lifting

Retirement can be a great part of life. As Nanji Singadia puts it, “I want to retire and enjoy my life. I’m 78 now and I just want to take a break.” That said, Nanji decided that the best way to move ahead was to contact the experts at Wilkerson. He chose them because he knew that closing a store is a heavy lift. To maximize sales and move on to the next, best chapter of his life, he called Wilkerson—but not before asking his industry friends for their opinion. He found that Wilkerson was the company most recommended and says their professionalism, experience and the homework they did before the launch all helped to make his going out of business sale a success. “Wilkerson were working on the sale a month it took place,” he says. “They did a great job.”

Promoted Headlines

Advertisement

Advertisement

Subscribe


BULLETINS

INSTORE helps you become a better jeweler
with the biggest daily news headlines and useful tips.
(Mailed 5x per week.)

Latest Comments