While I'm not new to the world of blogging, I am new to blogging about my craft. In the 6 years I've been designing jewelry, I've tried my hand at a lot of mediums... beads, silver clay, wire work, warm and hot glass, macramé, but I always come back to the beginning - beads.
The beading began when I was pregnant with my daughter. I'm a painter and sculptor, but my OB kicked me out of my studio and I needed something to keep my hands busy. I started with simple stringing, reading lots of magazines and books along the way. That led to experimentation with other media, but the beads lured me back. My pieces became more ornate and I started to really see the potential of jewelry as wearable art.
I've been running my gallery, These Precious Things, in Lebanon, KY for a little over 4 years now while also doing 10-12 arts & crafts festivals throughout the year. I carry 29 central Kentucky artists in the gallery and create most of my pieces during the day while I'm here. I added coffee into the mix last year, telling people to "Come for the coffee, stay for the art." It's working and I'm pretty happy with the setup.
So, welcome to my little corner of the world. I tend to ramble and can get pretty non-linear and go off on tangents, but hey, I'm an artist!
As soon as I get my act together, I'll post pics of the Cellini Spiral I'm working on and we'll go from there. In the meantime, check out my sites, jamawatts.com (artwork & jewelry), thesepreciousthings.etsy.com (online jewelry sales) and thesepreciousthings.com (the gallery).
Hi! My name's Jama and I've been designing beaded and wire jewelry for over a decade, and painting and sculpting for longer.
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