Jennifer Makely
Beaded Jewelry Art

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Jennifer Makely

"For me it is all about the process.  It is labor intensive, time consuming and requires heavy doses of patience and determination.  And, like life, it is also transformative and transcendent."
Jennifer Makely

Imagine the vision, planning and hours of painstaking care that go into stringing hundreds of tiny glass beads, called seed beads, to create a one-of-a-kind work of jewelry art.  Jennifer Makely approaches her jewelry art seriously and lovingly.  For her, there is no time or effort too great to turn her vision into a show-stopping beauty that brings joy to the woman who wears it.

Jennifer begins with a sketchbook, which she carries wherever she goes to make note of her inspirations.  She always begins with a sketch.  Next comes her favorite phase.  She sits in her studio, "on the floor, surrounded by beads, beads, thread, needles and more beads."  Slowly she ties together her variety of materials with traditional stitches, as well as some that she's devised herself, to create the piece.  Lovers of fine jewelry craft appreciate that, in addition to design, it is the stitching and knotting that create the drape which elevates a beautiful design to an heirloom work of jewelry art.

More than 20 years ago, after studying at the Art Institute of Chicago and Columbia College, Jennifer began her artistic career as a graphic designer in the corporate world.  As luck would have it, as she sought a way to reconnect with her creative spirit, Jennifer stumbled into a bead-weaving course.  She found in her new art a creative outlet that is "repetitive, precise and meditative craft which simultaneously calms and excites."

Lucky is the woman who wears the beauty and positive energy that flows from a Jennifer Makely creation.