Designer Interview: Kelly Angeley of Beadologie

1. What is your personal name, business name, website and location?
My name is Kelly Angeley and my business is Beadologie. My website address is: http://www.kellyangeleybeadologie.com/. I’m located in Florence on the beautiful central Oregon coast.

To the Beach with pieces by Green Girl Studios, Mamacita Beadworks and Coliebug Beads.

2. What kind of jewelry do you make? What types of materials do you prefer? What kinds of art beads to you use?
I’m somewhat bipolar when it comes to my jewelry designing. I go back and fourth between creating intricate seed beadwork, such as embroidered collars and cuffs, to stringing and some wirework. My first love has always been seed beadweaving but I always come back to stringing, mostly necklaces. I truly love all art beads but some of my favorites are pewter and shibuichi. I’m a huge fan of Green Girl Studios and have been on a GGS kick for quite some time now. It seems everything I make these days has at least one of their beads on it. I’m also a big sucker for boroscilicate glass. I use a lot of beads made by my friend Allison Byrd of Vortex Glass and she’s even done some custom pieces for me which is exciting.
Diatoms with boro bead by George O’ Grady and beaded beads by me.

3. How did you get into jewelry design? What are some of the important things you do for your business?
When I was about 4 years old, I somehow adopted a necklace of huge, clunky orange beads that I wore everywhere with every outfit I owned. I think that’s when the addiction began. When I was 5, my Grandmother gave me a large, empty margarine tub full of big, wooden macrame beads and crow beads. I’ve been stringing ever since. Plus, she always let me play in her jewelry box whenever I wanted. I remember I broke one of her favorite necklaces… poor Gram.
I’m trying to shift a large part of my business toward education. I’ve been teaching locally for several years now but starting next week, I’m going to start travelling up and down the west coast to teach. At the moment, I’m in the process of getting my kits and directions ready for my classes. I’m hoping to get kits on my website soon.
My messy, messy studio.

4. What is your workspace like and how do you work in your studio? What is a typical day like?
My studio, formally known as the dining room, is a great, big mess! I know where almost everything is located in my mess but it drives my partner crazy because he’s a neat freak.I tend to get really messy when I work. I’ve got to have everything spread out in front of me on the table when I work. I always pull out more beads then I end up using on the piece. I’ve got a 10′ long old English apothecary cabinet from the 1800’s which is where I keep most of my beads.Seed beads are stored in large glass jars on top of the cabinet. I’ve also got several rolling carts and cabinets because the beads seem to mysteriously multiply at night.
A typical day for me begins with a cup of coffee, NPR or my ipod, and my laptop. I generally spend the first few hours checking and answering email. Then I try to get one of my least favorite parts of business out of the way: paperwork. It seems the paperwork never ends- from filling out applications for competitions, shows, teaching gigs and directions. There is always paperwork to do. I frequent the post office quite often, as well. The postmaster is my friend. I generally start my creating and beading in the late afternoon or at night, as I am a night owl.
Vicious Studio Guard Dog.

5. How do you stay inspired and motivated?
All I have to do to become inspired is start pulling out beads from my stash. The beads almost always tell me what to do. I’m constantly looking through bead and jewelry magazines, as well as fashion magazines for inspiration. Seeing what my students create in class is a great inspiration for me. I love to watch them create and I am always anxious to see the finished product.
Deadlines are big motivating factors for me. Without them I tend to be the queen of procrastination, yet another endearing quality that drives my partner crazy.
Climbing Vines with cicada and “bug ball” by Bob Burkett. Boro beads by Allison Byrd.
6. What kinds of art beads do you look for? Is there a bead you wish an artist would make for you?
Anything that sparkles or has a hole is a candidate for bead! Seriously, I suppose I look for unique or interesting pieces that can be used as a focal point. I like pieces that tell a story, which is why I think I like Green Girl Studios beads so much. Each piece really has a life of it’s own. I’m really into telling stories in creating a piece. The end result is open to interpretation but I really want for whoever sees the piece to think of it as more than just a pretty piece of jewelry. I love getting to go to shows and talking to people about their different interpretations of my jewelry are. Most of the time it’s something I hadn’t even considered. My dream bead would probably have to be a mermaid with a movable tail. I like all things mermaid.
Infinite Cosmos with large glass cab by Todd Kelly and smaller glass piece by Rahsan Jones.
7. What beady plans do you have for the future? Do you have new designs or ideas you will be exploring soon?
I’m hitting the road to go and teach down in Southern CA on Feb. 16th which I’m really excited about because the bead store is located in the town I grew up in. At the beginning of March I’ll be teaching at the Bellingham Bead Festival on the Canadian border, another exciting location because this is where I went to college! For the month of May, I will be the featured artist of the month at Harlequin Beads in Eugene, OR. Then, in July I’ll be teaching at the Puget Sound Bead Festival in Tacoma, WA.
I’ve got ideas floating in my head at the moment for several large embroidered collars. I plan on using some boro glass cabochons that my above mentioned friend Allison made for me along with some amazing stone cabs I got from Gary Wilson last year. I found an incredible boro glass octopus ornament at Christmas time that is just begging to become a necklace. All I need now is time.