Family First: Egyptian Jewelry Making with MJ Arts Alot

The Egyptians used jewelry to show territorial pride and strongly believed that color reflected aspects of the wearer’s personality. Join Charlottean MJ Arts Alot during this creative jewelry-making workshop as we focus on symbols, colors and patterns of ancient Egypt to show our own cultural pride!

According to National Geographic, humans may have been wearing jewelry as far back as 75,000 years ago. The ancient art of jewelry making often included symbols, patterns and colors that were seen as important cultural signifiers.

Often the use of symbols, like the vulture and the cobra which represented the patron of Upper Egypt and the Lower Egypt regions, were used to allude to geography. The colors yellow and gold were associated with the sun and were used in crowns and ornaments for the pharaoh and his priests. A green stone was put in the mouths of the pharaohs to restore speech in the afterworld; the red heart amulet was believed to preserve the soul; and the golden Udjat provided health and protection.

Artist MJ Arts Alot will lead participants through this creative jewelry-making workshop, based in ancient Egyptian jewelry design, using the symbols of the vulture and the cobra, and the colors and patterns of this ancient culture.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

MJ Arts Alot was born and raised in Charlotte, NC. She continuously explores different avenues of art including, but not limited to, jewelry, painting, graphic design & illustration. She is also the founder of Melanated Creatives and has developed an art-based curriculum for children in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools.

Family First is generously sponsored by: