You may know ROBYN NEMES but did you know...

You may know ROBYN NEMES but did you know...

BY MANDY HAYNES • PHOTOS BY CHRISTY LE LAIT

If you live on Amelia Island, you may know Robyn Nemes as a textile artist. Her fabric brooches inspired by the Japanese art of Kanzashi, are sold at Story and Song Bookstore Bistro, and they can be spotted on lapels and scarves all over the island. But do you know the story behind these pieces?

Robyn made her first brooches as thank-you gifts for her wedding. Sadly, a month later, her sister succumbed to cancer. Robyn created a memorial pin from her sister’s favorite bathrobe and wore it all the time. People began to bring special fabrics for her to make pins for them. “I still create memorial pins, but now I create pins from fabrics I love,” says Robyn.

You may know Robyn as the ukulele coordinator for the youth ukulele group that’s part of the Fernandina Ukulele Network (FUN). “While it is fun to play and sing songs, it’s a great opportunity for kids to learn how their voices matter,” Robyn explains. Did you know she started a ukulele giveaway program? To be eligible, a child or teen is asked to write a letter that explains who they are and why they want to learn to play.

“One of our free ukuleles was sent to a teen in the Philippines! She came across a social media post about the give-away program!” Robyn says with a laugh. The young lady plans to pay it forward and find a way to get ukuleles into the hands of other teens around the world. She calls her dream the Global Love Project.

Do you know Robyn teaches elementary-age children to play the mountain dulcimer? Through afterschool classes sponsored by Arts Alive, a non-profit arts enrichment program in Nassau County, children learn the skills needed to play the dulcimer, but they also learn much more.

Leadership opportunities for these children extend beyond the community program at the end of the school year. Students who are passionate about learning the dulcimer, and who exhibit responsibility and compassion, are asked to return the next year as peer tutors.

It’s hard to imagine that Robyn was once a painfully shy teen and young adult. “It took me years of hard work to learn how to be more open. And it took two diagnoses of ovarian cancer for me to realize the emotional components that likely contributed to the diagnosis. When I volunteer, it’s my chance to encourage and celebrate leadership, compassion, accountability, self-worth, respect, and gratitude. As I work to help others to feel less of the emotional constriction and devalued sense of self that I once felt, my life becomes richer.”

For seven years, Robyn coordinated the Wild Amelia Junior Naturalist Program. She also authored three workbooks on the island’s seashore, its maritime forest, and one on its salt marshes. A volunteer with Keep Nassau Beautiful, she helped create a serenity garden at the local Montessori School. The garden is used for lessons, creative writing, and meditation.

And somehow she finds time to visit nursing homes and assisted living facilities to tap dance with a group called the Timesteppers and facilitate a Creative Wellness visual journaling class for women. “The group of women who participate are unafraid to explore topics such as balance and resilience, and the importance of forgiveness,” shares Robyn.

I wondered how someone as active as Robyn was able to deal with social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic. “When life shifted in March, I had to find ways to feel useful. I use social media to spread uplifting messages, as well as old-fashioned snail mail. I have learned how contented my loving husband, Ron, and I can be in our safe home as Happy Hermits! This knowing, too, brings me great joy!”

Then she adds with a childlike grin, “Of course I’m always learning something new! Currently I am learning a Japanese art called etegami.” Art that Robyn will no doubt use to brighten someone’s day.