Where it all started

It was back in the fourth grade when my table, books and pencil case were all confiscated by an irritated teacher in an effort to stop me from doodling over any surface prone to ink or lead rather instead of paying attention to classes. I sat there for an entire day with nothing before me - no pencils, no pens, no table, no books...

Needless to say it was about then that everyone knew my future would evolve around nothing else but art. When I reached the final years of high school I signed up for IGCSE art courses, scoring the highest O & A levels that year, it was also around then that I received my first Wacom® and discovered the magic of digital painting and illustration.

After graduating I left for Florence to study at the Fine Arts Academy followed by intensive jewelry making and design courses until finally, around July 2005, I decide it was time to quit playing ‘student’ and enter the rat race.

Since then I have played the part of art director, jeweler, game artist and freelance product designer and illustrator using both digital and traditional media.

Natalie Hijazi Jewelry

After graduating from the Academy I decided to do something a little extra and enrolled into the Art Studio Fuji school of Florence to study the techniques and art of jewelry making and design. There I learnt both general and multi-cultural techniques of jewelry making, soldering, casting, stone-setting, enameling and engraving.

In the privacy of my own home-based studio and with the help of jewelry workshops, I launched my own line of jewelry in 2006, making use of both my art degree and knowledge of metal work while creating my pieces.

Each piece is designed and handmade by yours truly, some pieces are quite simple, while others break away from the jewelers’ conventional techniques as I use not just silver, gold, brass, semiprecious stones and crystals, but also an array of unexpected materials to add a personal 'artsy' touch as I look to fuse both art and metal into one piece.

About the letter Nûn

Throughout history and archaic cultures the letter ‘Nûn’ (pronounced 'noon') embodied a variety of symbols and meanings; in biblical and Islamic terms it denotes the fish also called Nûn. As an abbreviation in Arabic and Hebrew ‘Nûn’ also stands for ‘feminine’. In some cultures, it represents the sun. For the historical philosopher Ibn Arabi, Nûn is the symbol of light... etc. So the list goes on.

But simply put: it is the first letter of my name and is what I chose to use as my logo and personal brand in it's circular abstract form of the Arabic Nûn.