Sarah Kelley of The Beaded Lily
June 03, 2009 | By desertmaidenbathworks
Sarah Kelley is a Southern Belle, and that is strictly my opinion, but I figure it to be accurate. She's intelligent, strong, well-traveled and of all things, lives near Savannah, Georgia!
She's a book hound, and gives us a small history lesson, along with with talking a little bit on metaphysics and how her customers really connect with the pieces she creates!
Tell me about yourself?
My name is Sarah Kelley and I'm the creative mind behind The Beaded Lily! I live just outside of Savannah, Georgia.
Do you have any interesting personal factoids?
Interesting is in the eye of the beholder, isn't it?
I love to read but my taste is pretty eclectic. I've got books on psychology next to translations of ancient Chinese poetry, and that's next to classic English fiction, which is next to modern sci-fi, old westerns, the Bible, craft books galore, and finally children's picture books.
I love animals - including giant predators and reptiles of all sorts, but spiders terrify me.
I've spent a good amount of time in Egypt-- I even know a tiny amount of Arabic.
Tell me about your craft...
I consider myself a beader-- I string and do beadweaving. In practice I make mostly small, simple wire jewelry. I've toyed with many, many mediums but beaded jewelry is fascinating to me, and that's where I focus my energy.
Why do you love your particular medium?
The history of it. Beaded jewelry is incredible ancient and wide-spread. Working with it really does make me feel connected to the thread of artistic personal adornment that is almost as old as humanity itself.
The variety, too, is amazing-- beads can be any shape, size, color or material. Infinite diversity in infinite combinations, anyone? (It's the Trekkie in me) (Editors Note: Psst.. I'm a Trekkie too!)
Jewelry can be such an intensely personal thing-- representative of who we are, what we want-- even talismanic in nature.
Who are your influences?
There's so much crossover in the jewelry world. My wirework ideas started flowing at the Met in New York
City, and I love paging through books that show ancient examples of beads, jewelry and metal work-- Egyptian, Grecian, Roman, Indian, Hebrew, Arab and African artists, though I've no idea who they were, have all had intense effects on my view of personal adornment.
My beadwork is thematically influenced by the online beadweaving groups that I belong to. Most of the items I weave are for challenges and such.
Most of my stringing is influenced by the artists and artisans who create the beads I work with. Sometimes, in the case of lampwork or clay or polymer clay, I know who they are-- more often I've no idea who cut or carved a particular piece-- but that doesn't lessen their influence.
As far as jewelry artists influencing my work-- I do subscribe to a few magazines follow a few blogs-- but that's a more a general than a particular definable influence.
Tell me about your most enjoyable experience with a customer
That's impossible-- like asking me to pick a favorite customer! I've had folks tell me that they wear my pieces to calm them down at work, text me from parties with a custom order, sell my vision to their friends and family, ask me to make their wedding jewelry-- all of that is very, very special.
It's also amazing when someone really gets a piece-- understands it, connects to it a way that's almost tangible. Like it was made just for them. I love watching that, or hearing about it in emails and blogs.
Where can we find your work?
Right now I'm actively working with three online venues.
I'm on Etsy: http://thebeadedlily.etsy.com
I'm on ArtFire: http://thebeadedlily.artfire.com
I'm on 1000Markets: http://thebeadedlily.1000markets.com
I'm not currently in any shops or galleries, nor am I regularly vending at any shows.
Any advice to new or young sellers just getting their feet wet?
Take it slow. Make sure you product is representative of who you want to be. Take good pictures. Write accurate descriptions. Put it out there. Be patient.
What do you do outside of your business?
Right now not an awful lot. This is my business and my hobby and I'm dealing with some things that mean I'm at home most of the time-- so I'm working most of the time-- if you want to call it work.
What does the "handmade movement" mean to you?
I treasure the leaning of certain people toward artisan works. I think it can't but be a good thing. To me, a handmade item celebrates individuality and humanity at the same time and that combination is priceless. The more people allow themselves to lean toward quality over quantity the better.
And for me, personally, it's meant that the past few years which have been the most difficult of my life have not been devoid of activity, meaning and worth.
If you could have lunch with and pick the brain of any artist living or dead, who would you choose and why?
I think Bezalel and Oholiab-- the men given the task of constructing the Hebrew tabernacle and all related artifacts. Why? Curiosity I guess. They must have been very skilled to be so singled out and I'd love to know how they felt about the honor, if they suffered uncertainties, if they sensed any divine help and how that made them feel-- that kind of thing. The actual working of their materials with whatever primitive tools they had on hand would also be interesting to hear about.
Tell us a bit about the space you create in? How has it evolved since you started your craft?
Well I started beading on my bed-- but I eventually moved it to the living room. There's a corner with a bench, table and shelves where I should work and where I do store most of my supplies and materials-- but most generally I'm on the floor with beads, magazines, paperwork, tools and all sorts of other stuff spread around me 3 feet in every direction. Neatness has never been one of my priorities.
What is your favorite type of handmade item to buy for yourself?
The wearable kind. Jewelry or clothes. I don't have many people into my personal space so the only way I can really show a collection off is if I wear it out.
Who is the person most supportive of your craft business? How do they support you?
My family-- both my parents and my sister. While they all occasionally actually buy something, their emotional support and general interest in current projects is really priceless. In many ways, I think they're more proud of the pieces I produce than I am-- and I'm the kind of person who needs that level of support.
Photos Courtesy of Sarah Kelley
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