Sarah Thompson lives in Spokane Valley, Washington. She is a 31 years old and she has been interested in making jewelry since she was 14. “Jewelry became my quiet way of expressing myself. Soon after high school I met my husband and within 6 months we were married, it will be 13 years in March. We ended up having 5 kids pretty close together.
Having kids has brought a new depth of patience to my work. I have learned to not get frustrated if the design is not working out as I would have it or if I just made a mistake. I have learned that I cannot force my work, that if I step back and let the design grow and evolve from the original idea the end result it is far better.
My workshop consists of a secretary desk next to the dining room table. It would be nice to have my own space but I think I would also miss having the family around me as I work.”
Sarah is a self taught jewelry makes. She has not had any formal training. Instead, she has learnt everything she does today through trial and error or through books and magazines.
“My parents have always been very good at encouraging me to explore my creative side. As a family we were always recycling old and used things to make into new accessories. If we wanted to learn a new skill there was always the library. My mother was always taking us and we would spend hours going through the books discovering new creativity. The passion for jewelry came when I was 14. After that the local bead store became a constant for me as well as I dove into bead books and explored the multitudes of beads.”
“Designing begins with a stone. I then sketch the design out around the chosen stone. Sometimes I sketch out a few ideas before I begin working. This sketch then becomes my blue print to get started.”
Sometimes the finished piece looks really close to the design. Other times as I work new ideas emerge, or I find that the wire wants to bend in a different way. Slowly as I work the design grows and becomes more than I had originally envisioned.
A while ago, I almost gave up wire working. I could see what I wanted to create in my mind, but I couldn’t seem to bring it into reality. I realized that I was trying to do it all in one step and that I needed to use a layering process to achieve my imagined multi-dimensional designs.
In my beadwork I often used a layering process, going back over the work many times to build a dimensional piece. I learned to apply this same concept to the wire work. I started using the wire-weave like a beaded peyote stitch, which creates a foundation that I can then build upon.
A few years ago I was at a pivotal point in my life. I had just given birth to our fifth child and I was trying to decide if I wanted to continue the dream I had started the year before in turning my hobby of jewelry making into a business.
“The year before had not been successful due to the economy crashing and I wasn’t sure my business was even feasible any more. While looking over my inventory I noticed an old discarded wire project, for years I had unsuccessfully tried to create a specific vision I had using wire.
While looking at this unfinished piece an idea came to me. That night I sat down and made my first finished wire pendant. I was so excited, finally success after 5 years of trying. That pendant led to another then another. With each new design more ideas would emerge with what I could do with the wire.
Within a couple of months I had enough to try out this new wirework at the local fairs. It was an instant hit.
While my other beaded jewelry didn’t sell, my wire work did. The week after my last show my first pendant was posted on Etsy, followed quickly by my first sale. While it is not easy juggling family life with running a business and I am up way too late working, it has all been worth it.”
“I have began teaching two years ago and am really enjoying it. Currently I teach at Fusion Beads in Seattle Washington, and Beyond Beads in Spokane Washington. As my kids get older I hope to be able to travel more.”
What are the steps you take in creating a new pieces?
“I sketch out the basic elements of my designs first. This allows me to engineer the primary structure and shape, and to plan where to make connections and place the focal stones.
The drawings help me visualize where I want wires to start and stop, and what wires and weaves I want in the back versus the front. I use my drawings to get started, but from there I allow inspiration to take over.”
“As I am working on a piece, I find that new ideas will emerge or that the wire wants to bend a certain way, so I deviate from my original plans and allow the piece to evolve. I don’t fight this. Some of my favorite designs were products of happy accidents.
Most of the layered work in my designs is freeform, and is added one wire at a time until I feel that the composition is balanced and complete. The finished result is often more beautiful than I imagined.”
What inspires you?
“I love Celtic designs, and fantasy/ sci-fi art work. But I also find inspiration in classical work as well. I don’t seek out inspiration but feel that I have been inspired all my life. That everything that I have seen has come together into the designs you see.”
Text: Sandra Kemppainen, Sarah Thompson
Photos: Sarah Thompson from Sarah n'Dippity Designs
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