SPOTLIGHT ON ... DESIGNER
October 2009

Our featured designer for this month is Melissa J. Lee

I am a metal clay artist and jewelry designer. At present, I primarily design jewelry projects for publication, as well as make related fine silver beads and findings. I love big concept pieces and jewelry that makes a statement. Most of my designs incorporate unusual focal elements and simple stringing techniques, and I favor stone beads in my work.

Pacific Dragon, 2008

I am still relatively new to this field and consider myself on a steep learning curve. My background is in intellectual property law, and I worked as a lawyer for a number of years. I am a natural collector and have a jackdaw’s eye for bright, shiny objects, so even back then I had a few beads around the house, mostly lounging at the bottom of a jewelry box. However, my schedule was not terribly conducive to cultivating extra-curricular activities at the time, and I never really attempted to do anything with the beads.

Natural History, Belt Buckle, 2009

Luckily, everything changed for me with the birth of my son. I stopped working and decided I would like pursue bead making, as a way to carve out a little personal time after my son fell asleep at night. I am a huge fan of lampworked beads and actually started out working with glass rather than silver. I rented torch time at a local glass studio and a few months later decided to make the investment to purchase a kiln at home.

Lady Luck, 2008

At this point, while deciding what type of kiln to purchase, I tried metal clay for the first time. Needless to say, I loved it, and I have been working with metal clay consistently since then. (Ironically, the kiln I purchased originally for lampworking has never annealed a single glass bead.) I usually use my fine silver pieces as the basis for my jewelry designs.

Masquerade, with ceramic cabochons and button by Earthenwood Studio, 2008

To call myself "self-taught" is a bit of a misnomer, as I have learned how to work with this material from books - of which, thankfully, there are several truly excellent ones currently in print. However, I have never taken a class and have no formal art or design training. Because I am hopelessly untrendy, most of my designs come directly from my personal experience and - admittedly somewhat eclectic - interests. I have an M.Phil. (an English rather than American degree) in English Renaissance Literature, so many of my designs involve quotations from this period. This seasonal piece, one of the first necklaces I ever made, uses a favorite line from "Macbeth".

Something Wicked I, 2007

At the same time, I love reading science fiction, and I have always thought that binary code has pure graphic appeal. With this in mind, I created a simple pendant by spelling out the word "love" in binary code, with a resin heart replacing one of the zeroes.

Geek Love, 2008

My son has provided inspiration for any number of bead designs. He was a terrible sleeper as an infant. In a (mostly vain) attempt to get him to sleep at night, my husband and I would drive him in the car at night. Although he wouldn't sleep, he was often entertained by the bright traffic lights he could see outside the window. This translated quite literally into my traffic light pendant design.

Road of Life, 2008

This is an exciting period of growth for me - the number of ideas for new pieces that I have still far outweighs the time I have available to work. I'm looking forward to seeing what the next year brings. Many thanks to Soft Flex® for the opportunity to talk about my work and for featuring me as the Spotlight On Designer this month!

Melissa J. Lee Melissa started making beads from fine silver and designing jewelry in 2007. Her work has been published in beading and bead making books, as well as magazines such as Stringing, BeadStyle, Simply Beads, Step by Step Beads, Bead Trends, BEADS 2009 and Creative Jewelry. She was a finalist in Fire Mountain Gems' Beading Contest 2008 and a finalist in the 2009 Bead Dreams competition. When not enjoying beady pursuits, she can be found spending time with her young son, knitting or curled up with a good book. Melissa's Blog: www.strandsofbeads.blogspot.com