How a Businesswoman became a Bead Artist

Meet the Artist

During a long career in business With a Degree in Accounting and a Masters Degree in Management, I had a problem or two. I’ve always been easily bored, chafed at  rules, and felt driven to create. Not exactly acceptable traits for an accountant/auditor.

In the 1980’s, when woman had just entered the world of the “Big 8” accounting firms, I worked for one which enforced a typical-for-the-times strict dress code: a jacket, skirt and panty hose were mandatory. Awful big-bowed blouses accented the dull colors. I said to myself, “OK fine, if those were your rules, I will find a way to subtly break them and stand out from the rest of this black, grey and navy background.” I found bolder suit colors. Shockingly, two earrings adorned both of my ears (remember, this was the 80’s and a very conservative firm). In addition to the quality of my work, my supervisor evaluated me on my “professional (aka compliant) look”.

I expressed myself in other ways and my soul came alive.  Over the years, I experimented with crewel embroidery, cross stitch, candle making, baking, painting and drawing (did I mention I’m easily bored?). Prior to beading, I specialized in knitted or crocheted sweaters, afghans, baby blankets, wraps and other pieces.

Several years ago, I had extra beads leftover from my knitting projects and I wanted to use them. Jewelry was the perfect solution! Those extra beads disappeared as my stash of bracelets, necklaces and earrings grew. Of course, I needed more beads and ordered crystals, pearls and other beads in varying shapes and sizes. I experimented with different techniques (there was the boredom thing, again). One day, I tried bead embroidery, where I stitched beads one at a time to various fabrics, leather or a felt like base. Each piece had limitless possibilities. No more boredom! With each new piece, a concept came to my mind and my intuition drove my creative process. The piece told me what it wanted to be. Each one was unique. Some pieces required months to complete, others were quicker. To avoid my dreaded boredom, I often worked on multiple projects at the same time.

Those soul crushing, confining rules from my accounting days influenced how I create jewelry today. I make statement pieces, as a way for others to express their unique personalities. Why wear a mass-produced piece? How boring is that?

If you want to stand out and express yourself through jewelry, I hope you will enjoy one of my pieces.

Cheryl is also a Vistage Master Chair, Certified Enneagram Teacher and Professional in the Narrative Tradition and Certified Heartmath Coach.

Make Your Statement

Statement jewelry allows you to express your unique personality. It is a distinctive, visible statement that conveys who you are.

The concept of statement jewelry is not new; it goes back thousands of years, when ancient civilizations would wear dramatic adornments for ceremonies and rituals or royalty would wear to show their status..

Today, you can wear Cheryl's modern day statement jewelry and accessories to present your true self to the world in bold, stylish and memorable ways.