We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Christine Lorenzo. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Christine below.
Christine, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?
Making jewelry is such an interesting art form. There are so many different styles of jewelry and therefore the makers and designers also vary in their approach and their reason for creating. I love and appreciate all the variations. I have been really lucky to find a great group of jewelry makers who create very different work then me, who understand my intention in my designs and how I work. I joke that I am just a bead stringer, and it is true. I love putting together my designs but do not make the components. The foundation in my designs and my business SariBlue is to gather and utilize components directly from the artisans who make them. I have had lots of conversations with people who wonder if I make my own beads and some seem really disappointed that I am not the one making them. I explain that I admire the history and technique required to make (for example) the Turkish glass beads I use in my jewelry. That these artists learn how to make glass beads generationally and my goal in using them in my jewelry is to support the long history of this art form. I am a bit of a history nerd and I think the meaning and story behind what I create is really important. Clarifying where I fit on the spectrum of makers is important, but sometimes puts me in a strange spot. Makers who consider themselves artists don’t always see me as an artist and hobby crafters don’t always understand my art form, if that makes sense. So when selling at an art event or craft event I do not fit cleanly into either category. I am not a hobbyist, I consider my jewelry art and it is my full time work.
Christine, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My business is SariBlue® an earthy, bohemian, wear-it-everyday jewelry collection centered on the power and protection of the universally recognizable symbol: the Evil Eye. Using glass beads handcrafted via ancient eco-friendly methods, the collection ties together past and present in a distinctive way adding protection through the talisman.
Beautiful, simply designed jewelry to add peace, positivity and a bit of fun to your style! There’s nothing evil about it…
The story of the SariBlue® name goes back to my introduction to Turkish culture. Sari- means blonde in Turkish, which is what my husband dubbed me when we met almost twenty years ago. Blue- is not only the most popular color for Evil Eye beads, but also the color of my eyes. So it wasn’t difficult to come up with a very personal name and one that was also well suited to the legacy of the Evil Eye beads.
Since childhood I was interested in the creative world but always held back being a creator. I was obsessed with history, film, art, music and fashion but ended up working in a world of international high-tech.
Spring of 2011 I decided to jump out of my high-tech career and devote my time to creating jewelry. At the time I was working for a company and traveling a lot to Turkey. With my interest in history and culture I fell completely in love with the artistry behind Turkish glass making. This somehow gave me the courage to start designing and creating my own jewelry. I began crafting earthy bohemian style jewelry, with a bit of an industrial edge to some of the pieces, a cool, luxurious fashionable style to others, with the center of the collection being the historic Evil Eye Bead.
Part of the beauty of these beads is the manner in which they are made. Artisans collect recycled glass pieces, mix them with special dyes and melt in their primitive adobe furnaces that are fueled by naturally clean-burning pine logs. They shape the red hot molten glass, fuse colors together and create these amazing beads using only simple hand tools. This process has not changed for centuries.
Every bead fashioned has its own identity, lending every SariBlue® piece its own allure. We like to say they are perfectly imperfect and find beauty in each unique bead. The beads are carefully chosen for the SariBlue® collection. All designs are created by me and carefully made in our workshop outside of Boston, MA, USA.
I still focus a lot on the evil eye beads but have added many other styles of bead and components to my work. Recently I have enjoyed designing pieces that use Czech glass as well as tumbled seaglass. I have really enjoyed using stainless steel components as well.
SariBlue® is best known for its trademarked maternity necklace collection of Baby Belly Bells® and placements of our designs on TV and various celebrities. We have happily evolved as an inclusive line of eco-fashion jewelry and accessories.
SariBlue® sells directly to customers from around the globe online and we offer unique designs for our retail and wholesale customers.
Our jewelry has been seen on The CW’s “The Vampire Diaries”, “Pretty Little Liars”, NBC’s “Law & Order: SVU” and our maternity necklace was frequently worn by Megan Fox during her pregnancy.
SariBlue® jewelry has been included in pre-award show swag bags for the Oscars, the Golden Globes, the Emmys, the American Music Awards, New York Fashion Week and the Cannes Film Festival. SariBlue® was a Featured Artisan at the 46th Annual CMA Awards and has been mentioned in the Hollywood Daily Star, Glamour, Marie Claire and InStyle UK.
How did you build your audience on social media?
I worked really hard to develop a solid following on social media. Instagram and Facebook were my focus and I spent years getting a solid number of people to follow along with me. Posting on a regular basis and running giveaways with other creators was awesome in the beginning. Taking chances on collaborations. Reciprocally engaging with followers was really important too. The biggest key is to be authentic. Truly be yourself, show who you are as a person and as a creative/business person. I share my principals in life on my business page, this isn’t for everyone but it is what feels best for me.
It is a bit bitter sweet story honestly. As a creative person running her own small business you wear all the hats. I do it all, design jewelry, make the jewelry, source the materials, create an online shop, maintain the website, take product photos, edit said photos, create shop listings, promote the shop, reach out to potential wholesale customers and thennnnn there is social media. All the things that go along with that are on my to do list as well. It is pretty exhausting and very hard to balance everything.
There is so much and here is the sweet part: I have amazing relationships with people from all over as a result of connecting on social media. People who I do not know how I would get through my day without. People who are amazingly supportive and give great advice. People who genuinely care about me and my success.
The bitter part: after all the work and directing my small business in a certain way on social media the game changes. You think you understand what gives your account traction and then it changes. Social media is not really set up to help small businesses be successful. We do not have large marketing budgets or a team of people to stay up on how the algorithm changes sometimes week to week. So after years of focusing on what I thought would be the best use of my time to gain traction it stopped working. I have taken a little bit of time away from what in the past were daily posts. I am currently regrouping and setting different goals and looking at different strategies and potentially different platforms.
Bluesky anyone?
So my advice on social media is be sure it is not your only source of connecting to customers. Be sure the work you do there gives you the results you seek. If it doesn’t, try something different. I think the use of metrics is really important and tracking where you get the best (not necessarily the most) interaction. Take it from me the number of followers is not what is most relevant. And as I say this I definitely would love and appreciate that whoever reads this gives me a follow over on Instagram. That’s part of the lesson too, ask people for what you want. Do you want them to follow you, like a post, share a post, join your email list or make a purchase? Ask!
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
I think people need to support art in all formats. We need to encourage people to step outside of their comfort zones and take part in creative learning. Attend a class, an event and share what you love and find with others. Artists need to support other artists and creatives who work in the same and different mediums. Art should not be seen as a competition but a place with room for everyone. It is easy to focus singularly on your own medium or your own circle of people. Art can feel very insular. It is meant to be shared, nurtured and discussed. There are lots of foundations and local grants available for individuals and project based work. I would encourage everyone to search for local art council grants and discuss the possibility of your town or school working with local artists to host performances or share their work with your community. Art brings people together. Talk to your local town or city reps and let them know that hosting working artists is important to you, make suggestions on who you would love to see paint a mural or perform a concert. You can support the creative world and bring art into your environment and show the value and importance of access to art for all. Encouraging kids to give art a try and valuing their interests as just as important as sports is critical. Kids are the most creative beings and letting them try new things is key to them loving art.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://saribluetrue.myshopify.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saribluetrue/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SariBlueJewelry/
- Other: Bluesky
https://bsky.app/profile/sariblue.bsky.social
