If your last name was Oz, there would be something magical about you too. But this is not Kansas, baby far from it! This is Miami. So where’s the magical part you ask? If you’re a jewelry and interior designer, painter, fashion coordinator, image and fashion consultant all rolled into one like Ana Oz is, the magic lies within her mixed bag of tricks.
Oz painted intensely until she developed a bad case of allergies. At the age of 18, she then moved on to working for a fashion-designing firm and then later to owning an antique store on the Upper East Side of Manhattan where she would personally handle window decor, thus fumbling into the “home-enhancing” business as she likes to call it.
To hone her artistic abilities she also took a course in jewelry designing. Oz now shuttles between being a home-enhancer and a jewelry designer. She is “artistically hyperactive” and believes that creativity is limitless.
How long have you been designing jewelry?
It’s been about five years. Seven years ago I dabbled in gemstones and I was frustrated with the limited ideas out there. Either there were high-end designs or there were the less expensive copies. As an artist I wanted something new!
What is your primary day job?
Home-enhancing. As luck would have it both home designing and jewelry projects will come in at the same time!
How do you wear so many hats?
My problem is I cannot have any time on my hands and yet I cannot do both at the same time!
Where is the jewelry manufactured and what materials do you use?
I used to have a workshop and on office but how all the pieces are handcrafted from home. I use semi-precious stones and precious metals only.
How do you choose the gems and do you go by their intrinsic properties?
I consider a person’s eye color, skin color, the dress color whether it’s casual or formal. All depends on the category of social affair. Sometimes I do go by their intrinsic properties and tell the client about it, or sometimes they’ll educate me about a stone or two. I’ll say that each piece is made with good energy, love, passion and goodwill, and I hope that my jewelry brings people some sort of good!
Do you design jewelry for men too?
Yes. I have designed very bohemian pieces for close friends, and sometimes men have asked me to design things for their significant others.
What makes an Ana Oz piece unique?
The passion I put into my designs. Everything in my life has to be different, and for some reason people take a like to whatever I create. It’s just natural.
Where do you seek inspiration?
Being artistic is at the core of my existence. I read a lot. I am a very visual person. I visit galleries — look for color-coordinated things. I see something nobody else sees in a magazine or a painting.
Valentine’s Day is around the corner. What do you make out of romance?
Since the early eyars of our civilization, romance has played a significant role in society as the ever-present constant throughout our recorded history. Truth be told, without is we would find ourselves back in the prehistoric times when the male suitor would pull their prospective female companion by the hair out of the cave. Although, who is to say this was not romantic. As subjective as romance has always been, it is surely the way to a girl’s heart and nothing says “love” better than a piece of jewelry.
