Richard Linklater’s latest movie, “Hit Man,” also solidifies what’s been an emerging collaboration between the Texas filmmaker and actor (and now writer and producer) and fellow Austinite, Glen Powell.
But it takes a lot more than just those two powerhouses to make a film. Artist and jewelry designer Sugar Gay Isber knows a little about that. She spoke with the Standard about creating jewelry for “Hit Man” and more.
Listen to the interview in the player above or read the transcript below.
This transcript has been edited lightly for clarity.
Texas Standard: How did you get involved in designing something for “Hit Man”?
Sugar Gay Isber: You know, I’ve been doing a lot of jewelry, I think my whole life.
I just saw on my computer, it popped up, I think it was 2006 – I was working with ABC to make a lot of jewelry for “Desperate Housewives,” which was popular back then, and “The Young and the Restless.”
So it was a great little entrée into that whole genre of making jewelry for, you know, all kinds of places, not just stores, but places where they’d really be seen, like TV and movies.
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So what parameters for “Hit Man” did the filmmakers give you?
Juliana Hoffpauir, who is the fabulous costume designer, I’ve known her for over 12 years, and we’ve worked together on several things. She doesn’t need jewelry in every movie that she does, but when there’s something special, she’ll reach out.
This one she reached and she said the producer and the director really want a piece of jewelry that will match the actress’s eyes. And that was Jo-Ann Robinson, who had beautiful blue eyes.
And so I just happened to have these beads. Now, these beads are really from that same time period, about 2002, 2003. They don’t make them anymore, but they’re the most beautiful aqua, which is my favorite color. So I really whipped up something fabulous for them.
A necklace designed by artist Sugar Gay Isber was featured in the latest Richard Linklater movie “Hit Man.” Michael Minasi / Texas Standard
Let’s describe this. It’s big, right? It’s a little bit heavy. You do something where you combine sort of the new and the old – and what is this base here? Tell me what this is.
So the center medallion is actually a stone that was cut in India in the same matching aqua – it’s not a bead, it’s a stone.
And then I had this flat, clear glass cut belt buckle from the 1950s from the Czech Republic. I buy from old warehouses there because there were so much glass and things being made that jewelers would use even today.
And then I really clean the beads, I ultrasonic them, I put them in the oven. I made sure that they were as new and perfect and sparkly as can be. And then I hand linked them together, putting that medallion as a centerpiece.
I thought it was going to be too much, but actually I had drawn many different designs for them to pick from, and this is the one that they liked. So then I made it.
Well, you said the words “too much,” and I didn’t think those were words that you knew how to say. Because I navigated your website, and you dip your toes into a lot of areas of art.
And it seems to me that over-the-top and excessive and just shiny are sort of some of your ethos. I mean, I noticed a tagline, “Be brave, wear bold.” Where did that come from for you?
Well, I think I’ve always made interesting jewelry for interesting people, because it’s like that red purse effect when you’re wearing something wonderful, like, I don’t have great clothes, but I got good jewelry.
So when you walk in, it becomes a conversation point. And that’s how you can make friends, especially today when we’ve been so isolated, even getting in an elevator just to have somebody say, “oh, that’s a great piece of jewelry.” It just can make your day. It can make you smile.
You walk into the office, you wore that same black outfit forever, but you put on a Gay Isber piece of jewelry. It might be a mineral, it might be a fossil. It might be just something like random, like this piece. And then all of a sudden people have something to say to you.
So I think it’s really an important part of – you know, the minimalist jewelry has had its moment; now we’re back to that flashy, Dallas and the whole, you know, 80s vibe, which is totally where I guess I come from. And it really makes you happy when you wear a Gay Isber design jewelry.
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Are there specific challenges when you’re designing something for a film versus a photo shoot or versus something that somebody is going to wear in their everyday lives? Are there different things that you’re considering?
Yes, I definitely have learned this over the years.
Jewelry that doesn’t make noise is very important. Jewelry that sparkles. That really makes the producers happy because they love those lights kind of flickering within the film.
I did a really big ballroom scene for “The Astronaut Wives Club” for Juliana Hoffpauir and that was the one thing she asked for, “make sure it just sparkles.”
So I’m good at the sparkle, baby. Like that’s not a problem for me. And they really love the pieces that I made for that specific ball.
And the other thing about this piece is that it was actually rented. They asked me to try to keep the price point down because it helps with the overall budget. So I got it back. I got all the jewelry back that I sent, which was, you know, they paid a little bit, but not too much.
So therefore I got to enjoy it again and somebody soon will have a forever home for this beautiful piece of jewelry that is now in a very big movie. So it’s very fun.
That phrase that you just used, the “forever home” – I think we hear that about adoption or somebody who is fostering a pet. When you’re making jewelry, are you getting really attached to these special and unique pieces?
When I was digging through my – I have a whole room of finished jewelry, I have a whole room of just beads and chain that are all vintage – and then I have my workspace, my whole house is basically set up for this.
But I have so much fun just rifling through all the pieces. It’s probably more than a thousand pieces at this point. It’s like, “oh my God, look at that. Oh my God, look at that.” Like, it really is a joy to me that I get to create.
And I’m really thinking about my clients, who I might not know or who I might know, and really putting that love and making sure it’s really a special piece of jewelry. So I just love it. I love making jewelry.
Something else you said struck me – you talked about the over-the-top, and “Dallas” is what you said. When I was on your website, I was getting these little pop -ps about people buying things from Brazil and Ukraine and everywhere across the world. Are there things that the Texans are into, or is it universal?
I think it’s universal and it’s in our DNA.
So jewelry goes way back at the very, very, very first of mankind, we were wearing jewelry. And I just think that that’s fascinating. If you go to the La Brea Tar Pits, they actually have a necklace that was worn by a young woman that ended up in the tar pits. And I’m like, “that looks just like what I’m making today” – with lots of fossil, you know, bony things and just things that you would kind of find.
So I love my big Texas shark’s teeth because I am a dentist daughter and teeth have always been a little of a bit of an obsession. But they’re all fossils. I don’t harm any animals. So I use a lot of fossils, and I really hope those would be a big hit.
I made a piece of jewelry, a shark’s tooth, for this movie called “Blood Money.” And it’s going to actually have a role in the movie. I can’t tell you what all is going to happen, but they’re using the necklace, the shark’s tooth, for many different scenes to do things with. So it’s exciting.
You know, every time I make something, you never know where it’s going to end up. You never know who’s going to fall in love with it. But I’m always glad when it does find a home that, you know, I don’t have to worry about it anymore and keep going because I make jewelry every day.
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