eclectic jewelry for eclectic peopleName: Sarah Kelley
Website Link: http://thebeadedlily.etsy.com
Where are you located? I was born, raised and still live just outside of Savannah GA.
Kaleidoscope VI
Tell us a bit about yourself:
I’m a self-taught southern gal with a needle, a pair of pliers and an intense love for art, beads and jewelry. I believe that uniformity and conformity are overrated, that less is less, in the value of the unique, individual, ornamental and simple, and in the humanity of art. I also believe that artisan jewelry is particularly special because it’s collaborative. It connects the maker of the beads, with the maker of the piece, with the person who chooses that piece to say something about themselves. It connects us through time and space.
Ocean of Storms
When did you start designing jewelry/art? I’ve always played with arts and crafts, but I started seriously beading about 15 years ago. It was a scary time for me. My grandmother was in the hospital because of a brain aneurysm and my cousin’s bead stash was incredibly therapeutic. I never did follow directions so I was sort of designing right out of the door– not good designs, of course! Beading broke my lifelong streak of adopting and abandoning artistic hobbies.
What do you make? I have eclectic tastes and my work reflects that. My strung work is very much influenced by whatever beads I’m using, but it tends to be bold and colorful more often than not, and very raw, with a focus on rough or hand cut gems, handformed findings and artisan elements.
My wirework is straightforward and simple, very, very primitive with a generally clean and light feel. My beadwork is my ‘what if’ collection. Lots of color and movement, lots of freeform and texture and abstraction. I’m experimenting with it more often than not.
What materials and methods do you use? When asked what my favorite materials were, I once replied ‘holes.’ And that’s really true. Anything that has a hole is fair game if I think it’s pretty. I love organic things like seeds, bones and carapaces. I love beads that another artist made. I have a definite preference for the older arts, though, and materials like glass, clay and metal that have been around for centuries. The same is true of methods and techniques. In my wirework I consciously focus on ancient styles and techniques. In my beadwork I haven’t gone beyond the basic stitches and freeform.
With my strung work it’s beads, colors, cultures, and intuitive connections between the elements. With my wirework it’s primitive designs seen in museums or history books, but also I get a lot of customer feedback. People will see my style and then say I like this and this, but I want this, and I make it and there, I’ve expanded my line. Or we’ve expanded my line. With the beadwork it’s more of a thematic thing. I’m part of a beadweaving group called the Etsy Beadweavers and we have monthly themed challenges and my designs are a combination of the announced theme, my own taste and whatever materials I have on hand or can afford to buy that month. But again, we’re talking color, texture, culture and beads.
What is your best working environment/where is your studio? I like to work in quiet or with something on the TV that I’ve seen so many times that I can just listen and don’t have to watch. Nothing too stimulating. But my studio is a corner table in the living room that is usually so covered in bead stuff that I’m on the couch or floor so I’m at the mercy of whoever’s home or gets to the TV first.
Kaleidoscope V
Where can your products be seen? Besides Etsy, I generally put new stuff up on my blog and Flickr accounts. Sometimes to my DA or TD accounts. Blog deviantART TalentDatabase
Upcoming events: Savannah Market Bazaar Sept.13
Magazine articles or press: I’ve been featured on a few blogs the latest of which was a short introduction on the Bead Art Originals Blog.
Who are you a fan of? That’s so non-specific and could be a really long list! I’ll restrict myself to the bead artists but I’m on Etsy so a better question might be who aren’t you a fan of! I love Linda Rettich’s work and Heidi Kummli’s. JoAnne Zekowski makes incredible glass beads. All the fabulous ladies at Bead Art Originals do fabulous things with their mediums.
Price range: Currently $9 to $450
Tell us a little about one of your favorite creations: That’s another tough one. I’m bad at picking one. I’ll make it easy and just go with my latest beadwoven piece with a wirework element. Links exemplifies much of what I’ve already said. It’s not really a stitch but totally freeform with an interesting mix of colors. It has a bone, and carapaces, an artisan lampwork bead, citrine rough and the wirework element which is primitive while providing color, move, negative space and sound. The whole piece has a very primitive, almost mystic feel.
Links
I live in a flat and don’t have much space for all my stuff, so I carry wire & beads everywhere around, which drives my husband crazy 
When and why did you begin designing jewelry? In 2005. I have been a collector of vintage and costume jewelry for almost 20 years, during which time I never thought of making my own jewelry. I lived a fast paced California life as a UPS driver. In 1998 I had some physical problems causing me to be unable to work. I eventually discovered that I could make jewelry. I decided I wanted to have a lasting contribution to the world, which is why I sign my jewelry. From the moment that I made my first piece, I was hooked.
Where do your design inspirations come from? Mostly from things I see; colors, nature, flowers, candy…. also feelings/emotions inspire what I make.
When did you start designing jewelry/art? I started designing jewelry in December 2005.
Where can your products be seen? 
