Melanie Neagley

Melanie Neagley

Peering into the Goldfish Pond
Fire Mountain Gems and Beads' Jewelry-Making Contest 2010 featuring Crystal
Finalist

Meet the Designer-Artist


Where do you live?
Jamesville, New York

Describe your artistic style.
Mixed media jewelry, heavily featuring polymer clay and natural materials and themes.

What inspires you as a designer-artist?
Color. I start with a color scheme I like, then I work in images and designs that fit well into that color scheme.

What materials do you most enjoy working with?
Polymer clay, stone and glass beads.

What is the name of the piece you submitted with your success story?
Peering into the Goldfish Pond

What inspired this design?
I was staring at a bunch of crystal pearls and they reminded me of bubbles in water ... the whole thing just built from there.

How did it come together?
I had to play with the beads layout a while before I had a configuration I was happy with, from there the rest came together very quickly.

Share Your Background


When and how did you begin making jewelry/beading?
I started about four years ago making lampworked glass beads. That evolved into making jewelry with my beads.

Who introduced you to beading?
Its something I kind of fell into myself. I don't remember exactly what directed me to glass working, but from there it was an unstoppable attraction.

Do you have an artistic background?
I've always dabbled in creative expression, drawing, painting, music. Jewelry-making has been by far my favorite and the one I've enjoyed the most.

How did you discover Fire Mountain Gems and BeadsĀ®?
Through a beading magazine; one look and I was hooked!

What other hobbies do you have?
Reading, computer games.

Do you belong to any beading societies or beading groups?
Yes, SRA-self representing glass artists.

Beading Success


What role does jewelry-making play in your life?
It started out as a pure hobby. Now I sell enough pieces to family and friends to pay for my hobby!

If you used jewelry-making as a way to bring in income, how are you selling yourself and your jewelry?
I sell mostly through word-of-mouth. I have an Etsy store, but now that I work full-time, I don't have time to maintain it.

Do you participate in any charity fundraisers?
I have made a few pieces for our local cat rescue, Wayward Paws, to sell at events.

Any advice for aspiring jewelry-artists?
Find some aspect of jewelry-making you really love and focus on it. There are so many materials, techniques and styles that you can easily lose focus and get frustrated if you don't.