Meet Jeffrey Aufiero | Artist/Co-creator of Talizmani

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

Hi Jeffrey, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I always felt that life in general was inherently risky. That being said, it doesn’t mean I just fly blindly into every situation…especially at this stage of my life. It’s much more calculated now, weighing out the risk/reward ratio. This has been my approach to business, surfing, finances etc.

I like to understand things at their foundational or say, base layer. Once I wrap my head around that, well that seems like a good jumping off point. When I learned to surf I was living in N. California/Oregon area where the spots were way more critical than here in Florida. Once I stood up and rode a wave I was hooked but I would go out a few days later and get totally humbled and come out terrified, like I just went through a washing machine. After a few months of getting pounded I started learning how to read the ocean, understanding swell direction/periods/tides, figuring out sandbars/reefs and why the same wave can be an easy chill wave one day to barreling beast the next.

Im having these conversations at the moment with some friends about Bitcoin. All I hear is “Bitcoin is too volatile and risky”. Bitcoin is not volatile, the people trading it are…is my usual response. After being around the space for a bit and reading Satoshi’s whitepaper, learning about a fixed supply and decentralization it all seemed like basic math to me. I guess what Im getting at is what looks risky at first glance can be a complete no brainer once you tune out the noise.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art takes shape in the form of jewelry design/photography these days. In previous life chapters it was being a musician/songwriting, I spent some years as a faux painter and honestly, I find surfing as a pure art form. The thing I love about surfing is I knew there was no way for me to monetize it as I learned to surf later in life. It just has become a pure expression of riding waves, learning how to read the ocean and one pointed focus. Being a musician or with our jewelry design at Talizmani there is always the business side to manage and how do I make this work as a way to make a living? Once I’m in the ocean with my board there is none of those concerns so its all about the present moment.

The beautiful thing about all these life experiences is I really feel like it helped Pamela and I have success with Talizmani. I know it might sound corny but, its just what we do. I know when I was a musician, touring and making records it felt like I was on a mission and had something really profound to say through songwriting. There was always a drive to share it with the world or something, maybe it was my idealistic 20’s but I just don’t feel that way now. We just both draw inspiration from the lives we have led, create beautiful designs and a way to curate them and put them on display whenever possible and here we are 10 years later….ironically, having the most success we have ever had as artist! Whatever that saying is “dance as if no one is watching” well I think “create as if no one is watching” has been my mantra and allowed it to let it flow more freely.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We are both a bit introverted, most likely because we display at 2 sometimes 3 shows a week and thats a lot of interaction with folks so there is a quite a bit of meals at home as we both like cooking. Occasionally we pop into PapiChulo which is our local taco spot with a nice tequila selection also. I would definitely point someone to visit the West Palm Beach farmers/artisan market on Saturdays during season. We display there and its always a great spot to get some food, shop and people watch. Our beaches in Jupiter/Juno are gorgeous. Pamela spends every morning looking for sharks teeth and beautiful shells which sometimes get used in our designs. We live next to the Juno Dunes nature preserve which is another gem I trail run in, always a great place to walk and see some wildlife and the occasional bobcat strolling around.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There is so many people I could credit at different chapters of my life but this past decade it has been my partner Pamela Shapiro. It’s been amazing to work along side her in all parts of our life. Talizmani was really born out of the life we wanted to live together. We both are rather eccentric weirdos so we give each other the space to just be ourselves and it seems to be working out so far. She brought the art of jewelry design and how to curate beautiful pieces from around the world into the relationship.

When we met here in Florida she had just moved up from San Cristobal, Mexico where she spent time as an Amber dealer/ creating jewelry and selling in the Artisan markets there so she was already seasoned at this whole thing. I’m really grateful she took a chance on me to see if I could add anything to the creative process, Its not easy for couples to join on these kinds of ventures and have it work out. Pamela gets inspired from travel and steeping herself in the culture of that country so we have spent some time traveling around Bali, Thailand, India as part of the business. Funny story, when we first met she took off to India to score some textiles and stuff for jewelry designs. Somewhere along that business excursion she met a nomadic gypsy family in Pushkar I think, anyhow it turned into a couple day wandering about riding elephants through the desert, chanting prayers and having meals with the sadhus. Totally off script, love that about her….

Website: www.etsy.com/shop/Talizmani

Instagram: Talizmani

Facebook: Talizmani