Store gives back for homeless

Stephen Frank Garden & Home, 477 Forest Ave., will hold a reception for artist Philip Kiluk and his jewel-encrusted creations, with a portion of the evening’s proceeds to benefit the Friendship Shelter, from 5 to 9 Saturday night.

The store opened late last year, and offers tableware, small gifts, furnishings and home accents.

Owners and Lagunans Stephen Jacobs and Frank Schaffer offer products from around the world — and just down the street.

“We are looking forward to celebrating Philip’s stunning new work and to giving back to the community,” Jacobs said. “The services of Friendship Shelter make Orange County a better place for everyone.”

Kiluk is one of their local artisans; his work features hundreds of tiny vintage rhinestones, which embellish crowns, crosses, photo frames and other decorative pieces.

He also is the designer behind many of the Friendship Shelter’s benefits and did the decor for the recent Nirvana Grille opening.

Kiluk got his start in his latest endeavor purely by chance.

“Eleven years ago, a friend of mine wanted me to go to the Romanoff jewel exhibit in San Diego,” he said.

He went and was taken by it.

A designer and painter all his life, he was enthralled by the pieces he saw.

“By chance, a friend of mine gave me some vintage jewelry a month or so later,” he said.

He later looked at a photograph of his mother and decided to make a picture frame for it out of the jewels.

Since that fateful frame, he has produced works shown on Rodeo Drive. A European pop diva purchased dozens of them to give to her friends for Christmas one year, including Celine Dion and Elton John.

Then Kiluk happened across Stephen Frank when meeting some friends for dinner.

“One thing led to another,” he said, and the collaboration soon began.

A Massachusetts native, Kiluk began his life’s passion with a corner flower shop, which led to a lucrative career planning lavish events in Miami. He also painted.

His mentor was a jeweler in his hometown. When he died, his daughter gave Kiluk his collection of odds and ends, from cameos to pocket watch faces.

He was also able to acquire the remains of a closed jewelry factory in Rhode Island.

He takes buying trips to New England, where he buys vintage ’30s and ’40s jewelry en masse, and is a regular at the Balboa Island annual yard sale.

Kiluk’s identical twin brother eventually suggested he move to Southern California, where he began showing his wares on Rodeo Drive and at the Hotel Del Coronado, and planned theme weddings in Germany and Costa Rica.

His goal now is to give back to others that which was so freely given to him: love and beauty. He offers his design services and volunteers with the MacGillivray and Gade families, and the Friendship Shelter.

“I never knew it would go so far,” he said. “It’s all the way it was supposed to be.”

As for his next steps, Kiluk is enigmatic.

“We’ll see what the universe has to bring,” he said.

For more information on Stephen Frank and the upcoming reception, call (949) 494-2014.

CANDICE BAKER can be reached at (949) 494-5480 or at candice.baker@latimes.com.