We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Mary Steskal a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Mary, thanks for joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I’m a firm believer in everything comes at you at the perfect time, so I don’t wish I would’ve started sooner or later. However, I do wish I put 100% of my confidence into Lotus Earth Lace sooner.

I started LEL in 2018, but I’ve been an artist my whole life.

I have always had a love of gemstones and in my late teens/early 20s, dove pretty deep into the healing properties of them when I was living out in Arcata, CA (shoutout to Beads Supply Inc.!). I created my own gemstone mala after a friend showed me how, with no real plans to make any more. However, the knotting process between each bead was SO meditative for me, I made a few more and started to get the hang of it.

I moved to St. Petersburg, FL in 2016 and began creating gemstone malas again. It wasn’t very long before one of my pals saw my mala and requested one of their own- made with gemstones that would call in protection, creation and enhance psychic abilities. After that, it was like a domino effect of requests and Lotus Earth Lace was born!

As much as I love creating gemstone jewelry for healing, it fell to the wayside for a couple months when I moved to MKE in late 2018. But soon enough, the gems found me again and I started to create. However, I kept LEL pretty chill, until the beginning of this year.

This year, I created a website and an official logo, I vended markets, hosted a workshop at a yoga studio, I added earrings, bracelets, a zodiac collection & more to my inventory! It’s been a dream to pour every ounce of my heart and soul into this little business that is mine and have the world receive it with love.

I wish I had done it sooner. I wish I gave my whole heart to this sooner, and believed in myself and LEL sooner. But this is the way it was written, and it’s been real fun!!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Hi there! My name is Mary and ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to help others.

When I was little, I used to make “healing potions” in my backyard and I would steal my mom’s Wicca books to try and learn how to do magic. When I would visit my grandparents in the summer, my grandpa would take me to gem shows often. He loved to look at EVERY booth and tell me about it all, so in no time, I became a fan too.

As I got older, I started to realize there was more to crystals than just their beauty, origin, hardness, etc. I started to learn more about the true healing properties and magic of each crystal and learned that crystals actually have the power to store, transmute, and purify energy. Each type has its own story and rhythm and I learn a little more each time I work with them.

Lotus Earth Lace started pretty organically with friends and family interested in my work at first, but in late 2023, I chose to shift my career to focus 100% on my passions- teaching yoga and creating healing gemstone jewelry. Since this change, I’ve been able to take on more custom pieces for people who are looking to enhance fertility, soothe arthritis, comfort grief and more. I’ve developed an entire zodiac collection that uses gemstones to balance the light and shadow sides of each zodiac sign. I’ve workshopped and added bracelets, earrings, “shorties”, and I’m adding anklets to my inventory soon!

This past year I’ve learned SO incredibly much and I will continue learning so that I can always make beautiful, healing jewelry for the world.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is to create a piece and then watch the world take it in.

I vended my first market this year and it was really the first time I ever put any of my art out into the public’s eye. I was pretty nervous because I really wasn’t sure how the world was going to perceive it. However, it didn’t take very long until I started to chat with others about my jewelry and I got to share that it was more than just a piece of jewelry; that it was also used for protection, well-being, and healing. Conversations about the jewelry evolved and life stories were shared, and it became much more to me than just vending markets…it became a place where I am connecting with my community on a deep, raw and beautiful level.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Society can best support artists and a thriving creative ecosystem by giving artists the space to create regularly. If we give people the space to create and be heard and seen, we’ll see others creating too. Because I truly think that most of us are artists or creatives in some way or another. And when we watch others share their stories and souls through art, it gives us permission to do the same. It’s a healthy way of expression. Society should welcome creation, color, funkiness…the world would be a little brighter if it did!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://lotusearthlace.bigcartel.com
• Instagram: @lotusearthlace