Face to face: meet Kathy King!

When talking about jewelry design, one of my friends tends to say that everything has already been invented. There is no need to try hard, because the possibilities aren’t infinite. Everything is just a bit of a modification of something already made by someone else. So, recognizing the work of the author is not so important…

I must say, I couldn’t agree less with her. Of course, design collisions happen, but they are rare coincidences, not everyday issues. If you give five different people the same materials and tools, there will be five different designs at the end of the day. Every one of them marked with the personal preferences and previous experience of the ones who truly put their heart into the process of creating.

I have absolutely no doubts about the fact, that Kathy King is one of the biggest masterminds in contemporary beadwork.

She doesn’t use fancy new bead shapes or over-complicated solutions, yet her jewelry is easily recognizable. The bigger and the more modest pieces, too. Her signature stitch, “bead quilling”, which combines cylinder shaped Japanese seed beads with the look we know from paper art, proves, that inventions do happen. And dear fellow bead-lovers, please remember Kathy King’s name, as this is a big one!

You will find here interviews with jewelry makers  and fashion designers every second week.

Together with them I wish you a pleasant time reading!

Please tell us about yourself and your brand a bit!

Hello! I am 47 and live in Cary, NC with my family that includes my husband, daughter, son and kitty, Ripley. I have always loved creating since I was little but never thought about pursuing an art career. I went to school for engineering so maybe now I can call myself a “bead engineer.” I love creating unique jewelry from tiny beads and sharing my creations through art shows and workshops. Other hobbies I enjoy are reading, coloring and playing board games with the family.

How did your story as a designer begin? Do you remember the first piece you sold?

I did a lot of paper crafts and cross stitch when I was younger and spent time in the local craft stores. In was there that I discovered some beads and started playing with jewelry design after work in the 1990s. I didn’t start selling my pieces to years later, after I learned bead weaving. I don’t remember the first piece but do remember my first show in 2002, six months pregnant with my son. I made a few hundred dollars and was ecstatic.

Please tell us how does your average day look like! It’s so exciting to get to know more about the lifestyle of a designer!

My daily schedule changes frequently. I’m working on getting more of a routine down for my week since I think that would help me be more productive. Most days start at 6am, getting the kids up and off to school, then I spend some time on social media (probably too much time) and doing emails. If there is a show coming up, I’ll try to spend most of the time the kids are gone beading. I do tend to get distracted by household chores some days but am getting better about that. I also make time each day to go for a jog or take a class at the gym. About 6 pm all beading work stops and its dinner and family time. Unless there’s a big deadline looming, I don’t do beading at night any more, my eyes get too tired.

Kathy King is the author of the book Bead Quilled Jewelry: New Beadwork Designs with Square Stitch. The book contains 25 projects divided into categories according to the skill level and experience required. You can learn to make bead quilled earrings, necklaces, pins and pendants. Kathy will also show you how to quill around a core bead, connect layers within a quilted piece, attach embellishments and create loops for attaching findings.

Thanks to Kathy’s generosity you can now get a taste of this innovative and versatile technique.

THREE LUCKY BEADERS can choose a tutorial from Kathy’s shop for free!

Congratulations to Claire Snedden, Mary Hunter and Sheila Kirby!

Kathy will get in touch with you soon. And don’t forget to tell us about your choice and experience with her tutorials 🙂

What makes your designs stand out of the crowd of other designers? Which are your favorite colors, shapes, materials etc?

The bead quilling technique I developed really lets me make things that are very distinctive looking, and different from other beadwork. The bead quilling lets me create really sturdy but flexible bead work, allowing me to create cool 3D shapes, my new addiction. I have always loved math and numbers and am really enjoying creating the geometric shapes with the bead quilling. My current favorite color is teal, but I love working with all colors, depending on my mood at the time.

For what kind of occasions can we wear your pieces? What’s the woman who wears your design like?

My designs range from small to large, from every day wearable to statement pieces that really need an event to be worn. It really depends on the individual person who is wearing them. I enjoy making the larger pieces most and tend to wear them more frequently myself but I know that’s not for everyone.I think the woman who likes to wear my more unique pieces likes things that are a little different, that she won’t see on other women and she isn’t afraid of having her own style.

Where does your inspiration come from? Do you have some rituals to boost your creative energy?

Inspiration for designs can come from anywhere. Nature, of course, is always a source. I also really enjoy looking at architecture and historical patterns from around the world. A go-to source of inspiration is a number of books I own that have tile patterns from different countries and also cultural patterns, such as Celtic or Islamic, and decorative patterns from textiles. The designs and color combinations you see in these books is amazing. Also, I get a lot of new ideas just working on my current design, which is why I have a few notebooks full of ideas to try.

Do you have a piece of jewelry you made, that is somehow special to you?

I probably have two personal favorites of my own designs. The first is my Red Empress design, the first piece I entered in Bead Dreams in 2007 and my first big bead quilled necklace. I don’t wear it often but it is one I will never part with. The second is my Fern Gulley or Coral Reef necklace I made in 2008 and probably wear more than any other necklace. I just love the colors (teals!), it goes with a lot, plus has wonderful texture.

If you could design something for a well-known person or maybe a fictional character from a film or book, who would it be, and why?

I would love to design something for Nicole Kidman to wear down the red carpet. She has this gorgeous long neck and has worn some large jewelry pieces in the past. I get so disappointed when I watch the red carpet events and see all these beautiful gowns with small, simple jewelry. There are also a lot of fictional characters from TV shows that would be fun to design for, like many Game of Thrones characters or other period shows.

One of my favorite and largest pieces I’ve made was a collaborative piece for the International Society of Glass Beadmakers exhibition, Convergence. I worked with Betty Fetvedt, a glass bead artist, and we had to design a piece for a real or fictional character so we chose Nefertari. It was a lot of fun to pull from history and get to design a large, Egyptian-inspired piece, one we called Nefertari’s Legacy.

What kind of clothes and accessories do you wear? Who are your favorite designers and why?

Personally, I wear pretty simple clothing, lots of jeans and simple shirts. I like my clothing to be simpler so I can wear whatever jewelry I want with it and I also like to be comfortable. Though the more art shows I do, the more unique handmade clothing I collect from other artists. I especially like unique jackets. I’m not sure I have a favorite designer to wear but I do love to watch the haute couture shows to see the new fun designs, especially Alexander McQueen.

What is your goal in the future? Where would you like to see your brand?

My goal is to make the teaching and selling of my beadwork to be my fulltime job. I’ve been working up to this for a few years. My long term goal and dream would be to do jewelry for a fashion show, that would be a lot of fun. I would love to travel more to teach workshop and take part in some international art shows. I’m currently working on doing an exhibition in Miami later this year. Other than that, continue to develop my own personal style and experiment with what one can make with beads.

Where can we see and buy your designs?

I currently sell instructions and kits on my website,www.kathykingjewelry.com but am working on opening an Etsy site for instructions soon. I will also be teaching again this year at Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee, WI in June.

Thank you very much for answering my questions, Kathy!

Tell Kathy King in a comment, how do you like her art!

And what do you think about the new series “Face to face!”

Whould you like to tell us more about your art and be featured in one of the upcoming interviews?

Don’t hesitate and drop me a line here 🙂