We had the good fortune of connecting with Tara Magboo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tara, can you talk to us about the impact the Covid-19 Crisis has had on your business.
This experience has definitely made me evaluate my business and its need to evolve in order to stay afloat. Although I do sell some work online, most of the income from my business is generated from retail shows. I have already had two big shows that have been cancelled: San Diego Comic Con International and Design Festa in Tokyo. To make up for this unexpected lack of business, I have, fortunately, been able to do more custom work recently in both ceramic and jewelry. In addition, I will definitely be expanding my offerings online on my website. I have also been thinking seriously about releasing another type of product that has been popular lately: Jigsaw Puzzles! I am preparing to release a couple of limited edition puzzles, hopefully by the summertime! The first puzzle design is based on a painting I made of a unicorn walking at sunset on the beach. I’m excited about it! In addition to my jewelry business, I have also been conducting jewelry classes for some time and, very soon, I will begin teaching at the brand new UCSD Crafts Center. With schools being closed for the indefinite future, we need to be creative in teaching classes. I am currently preparing videos for online teaching. The initial offerings are short craft tutorials to gain exposure for the UCSD Crafts Center, will be free! Stay tuned on UCSD’s Housing and Dining social media for updates!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I own a small business called: Adorable Mayhem. I handcraft silver and bronze jewelry, small porcelain sculptures, and prints based on animal characters of my own design. My vision is to create whimsical pieces with an emphasis on craftsmanship. I spend time crafting all the minute details of every piece including the jewelry findings such as clasps and earring hooks. Paying attention to often neglected details makes my work special and unique. A year ago I started experimenting with porcelain clay. For the past several years I’ve been fascinated by the material and I finally took the risk to debut a porcelain collection at Comic-Con 2019. I read several books and online articles as well as watched several video tutorials to figure out how to fire, glaze and work with porcelain clay. Fortunately, it proved successful! It has been extremely rewarding that all the hard work in teaching myself this new craft has paid off! My entire background has been dominated by jewelry making. I went to undergraduate school at The Rhode Island School of Design where I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Illustration. During that time, I took several out-of-major credit classes in the Jewelry and Light Metals Department. After I graduated from undergraduate school, I went on to work in the jewelry industry. This is where I gained much of my experience and technical skill. I learned a lot of valuable practical lessons about production and day-to-day practicalities of running a jewelry business. These are lessons that have stayed with me to this day. After working in the jewelry industry for 5 years, I went to graduate school at San Diego State University where I received my Master of Fine Arts degree in Jewelry and Metalsmithing in 2009. After I completed my MFA, I started my current jewelry business, Adorable Mayhem. I started selling my work online and at retail shows such as San Diego Comic-Con International. More recently, I will soon be taking my work internationally to a prominent Asian Art Fair, Design Festa in Tokyo, Japan! Originally, I was scheduled to exhibit at the show in April 2020. However, with the Covid crisis, the show has been pushed to November 6 and 7. It’s always been a dream of mine to exhibit in Japan and I finally have that opportunity! Last, but not least, I will also be exhibiting my work in the Philippines in Manila at Power Plant Mall, tentatively during the last week in November 2020. Working in a creative field, definitely has its challenges. I can’t say that my path has been easy and I still routinely find myself juggling work from a variety of areas to make a living. I teach jewelry classes, work for other jewelry companies, all the while tending to the needs of my own small company. Nevertheless, all the struggles I have pushed through have been tremendous learning experiences for me; both my professional and personal growth have stemmed directly from those difficult experiences. What do I want people to know about my brand and story? I’m just a quirky, silly little person that loves making well-made, cute stuff! I just want to make objects that bring joy to people’s lives for many years to come!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my good friend, Keyanna, came to visit me in San Diego, I would first take her to my favorite little neighborhood, South Park. First, we would stop by in the morning for a little pick-me-up at Communal Coffee which is housed in a small converted vintage camper. This little coffee shop has a nice open courtyard with a comfortable seating area. Next door, they have a little boutique that sells locally made gifts, where we could browse through. Then we would walk through the neighborhood to browse through other charming shops, like The Catapult bookstore, The Gold Leaf, and Bad Madge. Afterwards, we could pick some delicious artisan chocolates or specialty hot chocolate from Eclipse Chocolate Bar and Bistro. My absolute favorite hot chocolate is their Cardamom Rose with soy milk. We could wrap up the day at one of my favorite Vegan restaurants such as, Kindred, where the food is best described as Upscale American comfort food. (Definitely try the French Dip! It’s so delicious!) For another excursion on a separate day, we could head over to Bankers Hill and walk through Maple Canyon. Since we’ve experienced a fair amount of rain here in San Diego recently, the foliage in the area is so lush and beautifully green! In fact, walking through the area reminds me of the Shire in The Hobbit. And this Maple Canyon hiking trail ends right at the start of Little Italy. Once there, we could stop at James Coffee for my favorite Iced Chai Latte with oat milk. Across the street, we could do a little boutique shopping at Craftmossphere and Stroll. Afterwards, we’d have to walk further south and head over to my absolute favorite store: Vitreum. The owner, Takao has a wonderful selection of beautifully made Japanese crafts. And last of all but certainly not least, we can end our day back in Bankers Hill at Extraordinary Desserts! If my good friend, Keyanna, came to visit me in San Diego, I would first take her to my favorite little neighborhood, South Park. First, we would stop by in the morning for a little pick-me-up at Communal Coffee which is housed in a small converted vintage camper. This little coffee shop has a nice open courtyard with a comfortable seating area. Next door, they have a little boutique that sells locally made gifts, where we could browse through. Then we would walk through the neighborhood to browse through other charming shops, like The Catapult bookstore, The Gold Leaf, and Bad Madge. Afterwards, we could pick some delicious artisan chocolates or specialty hot chocolate from Eclipse Chocolate Bar and Bistro. My absolute favorite hot chocolate is their Cardamom Rose with soy milk. We could wrap up the day at one of my favorite Vegan restaurants such as, Kindred, where the food is best described as Upscale American comfort food. (Definitely try the French Dip! It’s so delicious!) For another excursion on a separate day, we could head over to Bankers Hill and walk through Maple Canyon. Since we’ve experienced a fair amount of rain here in San Diego recently, the foliage in the area is so lush and beautifully green! In fact, walking through the area reminds me of the Shire in The Hobbit. And this Maple Canyon hiking trail ends right at the start of Little Italy. Once there, we could stop at James Coffee for my favorite Iced Chai Latte with oat milk. Across the street, we could do a little boutique shopping at Craftmossphere and Stroll. Afterwards, we’d have to walk further south and head over to my absolute favorite store: Vitreum. The owner, Takao has a wonderful selection of beautifully made Japanese crafts. And last of all but certainly not least, we can end our day back in Bankers Hill at Extraordinary Desserts!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate this Shoutout to the UCSD Crafts Center. The support of this wonderful community helped through the most challenging times and the best times of my life. For this, I will forever be grateful.

Website: www.adorablemayhem.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/adorablemayhem
Twitter: www.twitter.com/adorablemayhem
Facebook: www.facebook.com/adorablemayhem

Image Credits
The first image is a digital portrait that my friend, Starr Sinton, made of me wearing an outfit at Comic-Con. The rest of the images of my work were taken by me, Tara Magboo.