We recently connected with Marie Biallas and have shared our conversation below.

Marie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

I learned many of my jewelry making skills just by trial and error in the beginning, before there was an internet to explore. I learned more when I started teaching jewelry classes and by self discovery on the internet. I haven’t really taken many classes for jewelry making except for Viking Knit. Learning Viking Knit was essential because it is something you don’t find being made by many artists, so it’s unique and people are impressed by it. I tend to believe that things happen as they should, so I can’t say I’d change anything about the ways or the timing for the skills I’ve acquired. Being largely self taught is something I take pride in.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have been a creative person since I was a young child. I always knew I’d be an artist because I feel I was born one. I went to college first for Commercial Art and later changed to Graphic Design. I spent over 25 years working as a graphic artist/designer in many facets of the printing industry and ended that career rising to the title of Senior Graphic Designer in an art department of a corporate business. Then I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2013. I had been struggling to squeeze in time for jewelry making after working a 40 hour week when cancer struck. I endured 5 months of chemo, total hair loss, surgery and weeks of radiation and came to the realization that the time was right to quit my job, work part time and make time for my passion, jewelry designing. Cancer changes your perspective on life, you better do the things you really want to do while you can because this is the only life you get, don’t waste it. I have been cancer free since 2014. This is when I really got serious about my craft. My jewelry is inspired by the beauty of nature around me. I love dragonflies, butterflies, bees, birds, etc. My style is very bohemian, a casual, earthy style that I think appeals to many people. I feel that my creative spirit is infused in each piece I design and that I’m sharing myself with people through my jewelry. I am always open to custom designing for people. I do custom alterations and custom requests all the time.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding part of being a jewelry artist is seeing that spark is someone’s eyes when they see something that I’ve created and they feel so strongly about it that they have to own it. That’s how I know I’m doing exactly what I’m meant to do. It is so gratifying! Besides, I can only make so much jewelry for myself, I’m meant to share it with the world.

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

The best way society can support local artists and the artist community as a whole is to buy their art, it’s as simple as that. At Christmas, buy something unique and handmade, what a special gift! I do a local Art Crawl twice a year. I set up my booth and that’s where I do my best business, I get to talk to people who are interested in what I do and how I do it. I look forward to it all year. People who come know what goes into the things we sell, the time, the talent, they appreciate us and they buy our art. Communities of all sizes should support art fairs, art crawls, etc. These are places to bring young people and inspire them to live a creative life. If you have creative hobbies, you have tools for happiness. I know personally I’m not happy if I can be creative on a regular basis. Also, try to always buy from legitimate artists creating their own art. It’s easy to see when someone is selling something mass produced from China, for example. The price is the first clue. Dirt cheap. Pay an artist the price they are asking, no bargaining. That’s an insult.    

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MarieBiallas
• Instagram: marie_biallas
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/gypsyheartjewelrydesign

Image Credits
Head Shot courtesy Glamour Shots