Belen Yudess ‘25 and AJ Jolish ‘25
Social Media Manager and Staff Writer
When you visit the Motley Coffeehouse, you can not only get a delicious drink but also support Scripps student artists! To introduce you to some of the faces behind the art, we sat down with three of this year’s vendors: Olive Gaetz ’25, Jenna Wu-Cardona ’23, and Eileen Kang ’26.
The Scripps Voice (TSV): What does making art do for you emotionally in your life?
Olive Gaetz (OG): It’s really the one thing that I’m passionate about. It’s cathartic. People turn to exercise or writing or playing video games or whatever else; this is my one outlet to get out all the things I’m feeling, get out my creativity, and put something out into the world that I feel happy to have made.
TSV: How do you decide on pricing for your earrings?
OG: There’s a lot of components that go into it. I try to keep a good balance between the time I’ve spent and the materials I’ve used, while keeping in mind that these are college students buying them. My scale right now is usually like nine to twenty dollars, which I found works well and has things go at a steady pace.
Originally, I wasn’t making these for profit, it was just out of enjoyment. But now I have a purpose for making them, which inspires me to keep experimenting and coming up with new things that I think other people would enjoy.
TSV: Tell me more about the process of making your earrings.
OG: With the embroidered ones, I make a ton at once because if you’re putting the fabric in an embroidery hoop, there’s a certain level of tautness and amount of material you need in order to use it. I fill up as much of the fabric as I can then cut them out, seal them and glue them down to a base, then put on the hoop, attach the hardware, and glue another piece on the back. The embroidery takes a long time because you have to make the two earrings match, which can be difficult because embroidery is a little bit unpredictable, especially at that scale.
Then for the clay earrings, it takes a little bit longer; I create a base out of tin foil, sculpt clay around it, and bake them, which takes around 15 minutes. Then I go to the Hive and I paint them, or just add details. And then let that dry, seal them, and attach jump rings and hooks.
Instagram: @Olivia.Gaetz
TSV: Describe your process from coming up with ideas to the finished product.
Jenna Wu-Cardona (JWC): With larger stained glass pieces that I make, a lot of times I’ll do an abstract collection of shapes based off of word scapes or names of my friends. I’ve given these as gifts before, which is really special and fun. A lot of times the scraps of those pieces — because glass sheets come in pretty big pieces — get turned into earrings. It’s really cool to be able to use those because a lot of times with stained glass, you can’t use a lot of it. My mom was the one who taught me how to do stained glass, and she said you just have to get used to wasting a lot of glass, which is really devastating. But this way it’s nice to be able to turn it into something else.
TSV: What was your favorite piece you’ve made for the Motley?
JWC: I don’t know! In selling pieces, I’m always surprised at the process of it, especially in art markets or when I can see who they’re going to and what’s going first. A lot of times the pieces that are my very favorites, whether it’s my favorite color of glass or I feel like I made it really neatly or something like that, a lot of times those are not the ones that sell. It’s the ones that I think are messy, or are not my personal favorites, that people buy first, which I think is really neat because it shows how personal both the art making process and the art purchasing process are.
TSV: Is there anything else you’d like to say about selling art at the Motley?
JWC: I’d like to share an appreciation for the ease of the process. A lot of places would take a commission, but the Motley has students pay artists directly, which is really neat, and very unique and in line with the Motley’s vision.
Instagram: @JWC.Glance
TSV: What do you sell at the Motley and why do you sell that medium?
Eileen Kang (EK): I sell sterling silver jewelry at the Motley. I make bracelets, earrings, rings, necklaces, and they’re all with glass beads, pearls, crystals, and sterling silver. I started making jewelry because I’m very particular about the things that I want to wear, and I’m very much against tarnishable materials in jewelry. And it’s a really good stress relief when I don’t want to do my homework.
TSV: How did you hear about selling your jewelry at the Motley?
EK: At some point before I came here I knew that there was a student run coffeehouse, and that they sold student made artwork and jewelry, [which] got [me] really excited. I was like, wow, that’s great. I can do that. I used to make a lot of stuff, but I wouldn’t really sell it because I didn’t want to go through the effort of creating a page and then having to run it. There’s a lot of middlemen stuff with Etsy and Depop. But here it’s really direct. I just put it out and people Venmo me, and they take it. There’s a lot of trust involved, but I trust people here to just not grab things and go.
TSV: How does it feel to see people purchasing your work?
EK: It feels like people are appreciating [my jewelry] and that makes me happy. I hope that they’re very happy with the art that they receive too. It’s crazy that I can reach this whole community without physically being there, actively pushing it. It’s just nice seeing your work in the wild.
Instagram: @shop.kinaesthetics
Gaetz, Wu-Cardona, and Kang are just three of the many student artists who contribute to the Motley! Other students sell crochet products, t-shirts, poetry books, and more. So the next time you visit the Motley for a matcha-cha-cha, don’t forget to check out all of the incredible work up for sale!
Image Source: Jenna Wu-Cardona ’23
