STUDIO GRAND OPENING - MELISSA ROUSSEAU DESIGN AND MOD GREEN POD

You are invited to a private viewing of Melissa Rousseau's new design studio and Summer 2005 jewelry collection. Each guest will receive a 15% discount on all purchases.

Also,

Help define the future for the launch of Mod Green Pod, a modern, organic household linen product company. Co-founder Lisa Mims will be there to hear all your feedback and ideas.

Date: June 16, 2005
Where: 46 Waltham Street, Studio 303B, Boston, MA 02118 - between Shawmut and Washington Streets
Time: 3pm - 5pm & 6pm - 8pm

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE; BOSTON'S (JEWELRY) DESIGNING WOMEN

Tired of spending tons on mass-produced trinkets everybody else in town is toting? It's time to look locally. A collection of inventive and inspired jewelers is designing and crating customized accessories right in the neighborhood.

Melissa Rousseau
She once designed window displays for Bergdorf Goodman in New York, but back in Boston, Rousseau studied metalsmithing before channeling her aesthetic talent into clean, elegant, gold and silver accessories influenced by geometric shapes and nature. 617-407-9560, www.melissarousseau.com

SOUTH END ART WALK

Come and meet with Melissa Rousseau at the South End Art Walk on Saturday and Sunday, May 21 and 22nd from 11:00 am - 6:00 pm.

MELISSA ROUSSEAU: CHARMING WEARABLE ART; Industry Magazine, April/May 2005, By Olivia DeFeterici

Melissa Rousseau has always stuck out in a good way. As a college student studying studio art at UVM, Rousseau had a unique fashion style that could pull together an ensemble that was different yet chic (think vintage with a bohemian flair), and attracted admiring attention. "Where did you get that?" they asked her.

"I made it," she answered.

She remembers thinking to herself, "If people like what I wear, they'll like my designs." A perfect prediction, indeed. These days her understated yet enchanting jewelry designs are gracing the necks, ears and fingers of many.

After college, like many aspiring fashionistas, Rousseau journeyed to the Mecca ... New York City. She snagged a dream internship at Harper's Bazaar in the fashion/accessories department and later worked in the visuals sector of Bergdorf Goodman. If we could all be so lucky. Rousseau spent her days at the venerable department store creating window displays while admirers snapped photos from the other side of the pane. But she knew something was missing in her career. She didn't, however, underestimate her time in the Big Apple. "I got to know the fashion industry first hand."

After moving back to her hometown of Cohasset, Rousseau, still searching for her footing, dabbled in many jobs to pay the bills, but always knew she belonged on the fashion side of town. The defining moment arrived after enrolling in a metalsmithing class at the North Bennet Street School. "That was that," she says. "I tried a lot of things and metalsmithing just clicked." Melissa blended her signature artistic aura with metalsmithing and began making jewelry.

Rousseau's final inspiration come after a visit to London. She crossed the Atlantic with the intention of enrolling in school again, this time at Central St. Martin's College of Art and Design in the UK. Although three more years of school were to her benefit, she decided to just go for it. "I wanted to do it on my own."

The result? Modest, yet exquisite jewelry featuring fine pieces of gold and silver that she says "are easy to wear." Her very first creations featured beads and beaded charms. She experimented with color and used "unexpected combinations with things that don't obviously go together. It reminded me of painting," she says.

Each piece can be worn day or night, casual or dressed up because of the matte finish and clear-cut design. Pair any of the versatile necklaces together for a look that's every-day elegance. Or stack the charm rings together and switch the patterns for assorted looks. Rousseau's jewelry has smooth shapes that look beautiful, whether solo or layered. She tested the jewelry on herself (of course), wearing her pieces with different ensembles at different times of the day. "I could put it all together," she flaunts a sly smile and adds, "I only wear my jewelry."

Her simple yet well-designed pieces are gaining popularity after an online catalogue discovered and featured her collection. Since than she's been taking orders from Salt Lake City to Oklahoma City. Each piece is custom made, and can take anywhere from four hours to two days to complete. Rousseau also works together with her clients adding links or discs to make the piece a perfect fit.

Drawing from her natural creativity, learned technicalities, and with a little help from her two grandmothers, Melissa Rousseau has created a fine collection of timeless jewelry. At 31, Rousseau is one of the few who has reached the end of her rainbow. Only, her pot isn't filled with gold coins, rather gold charms from her own line of jewelry. If you're lucky enough, you'll soon have a Rousseau charm of your own.

PERFECT CIRCLE --- featured on DAILY CANDY, January 19, 2005

We owe so much to the world's great thinkers: Aristotle, Descartes, Confucius, Einstein.

Not to mention good old Rousseau.

We're talking about Melissa Rousseau, whose jewelry creations are a thought-provoking meditation on the endless potential of the circle. Featuring modest, interconnected designs in gold or silver, her necklaces come in various beautiful configurations: linked metal circles, groupings of circles, circles upon circles. Geometric but never cold, the pieces have a clean matte look that pairs nicely with discreet, unpretentious clothes.

Rousseau occasionally branches out into other shapes, using cone, teardrop, oval, and leaf-shaped designs. But all her pieces exude the same understated elegance.

As any great thinker will tell you, keeping it simple is the greatest challenge of all.