Kelly J. Angeley

Artist Statement

     I have my grandmother to both thank and blame for my love of jewelry and bead addiction.  When I was about five years old she presented me with a large margarine tub filled with colorful beads, mostly large wood and glass crow beads from leftover macrame projects.  Together we would sit for hours stringing, unstringing and restringing these beads.

     Now some thirty years later, I still sit stringing beads for hours. I find that the process of creating is a strong urge that is rather difficult to explain, as I imagine this is probably true for many artists. For me, creating is a drive or need to make an aesthetically pleasing finished piece by a process that is almost like a puzzle.

    I enjoy the challenge of creating effects of color with beads. This is especially fascinating to me because I can’t mix beads like tubes of paint to create colors as I learned in art school. I thrive on trying to create balance using pieces of various shapes and sizes. This is also the most fun way to use math that I have discovered! Most gratifying though, is the actual stringing process which I find to be meditative… my “Bead Zen” I call it.

Artist Profile:

Kelly Janice Angeley (b. 1972) lives, teaches beading classes and works out of her home studio in Florence, OR. Kelly holds a Bachelor's Degree in Fine Arts from Western Washington University, where she began her artistic career as a painter, however, a healthy obsession with beadwork has caused Kelly to put down her paintbrush. What once started out as a hobby has become a serious profession for Kelly. She sells her beadwork in galleries and boutiques along the west coast of the United States and has exhibited her work in national beadwork exhibitions. Kelly's work has been featured in several books and magazines.

Hobbies include playing guitar and collecting, you guessed it, beads.  

Publications:

Beadwork Magazine, Oct. 2005.

Bead & Button Magazine, Oct. 2006.

Beadazzled: Where Beads & Inspiration Meet, 2006.

Stringing Fall 2006.

Stringing (cover) Spring 2007.

Stringing Summer 2007.

Stringing Fall 2007.

Stringing Winter 2008.

Stringing Spring 2008. 

Fire Moutain Gems & Beads Catalog, 2007-2008.

Graphic Crafts Artist '07. A Japanese Publication.

Cover, Bellingham Bead Festival 2008 Brochure.

Stringing Summer 2008.

Flatwork by Nicole Campanella, 2008.

Exhibits:

Beadazzled Book Launch Party, Baltimore, MD. May 4, 2006.

Beadazzled Book Launch Party, Washington D.C., May 5, 2006.

Beadazzled Book Launch Party, Virginia. May 6, 2006.

Spirited Away Gala, Bead Museum, Washington D.C. June 17, 2006.

Bead & Button Bead Dreams Competition, Milwaukee, WI. June 11-18, 2006.

Puget Sound Bead Festival Beaded Inspirations, Tacoma, WA. July 7-9, 2006.

Bass and Bead Autumn Harvest Bead Challenge, Florence, OR. Oct-Nov. 2006.

Bead Dreams, Diamuru Department Store, Mar. 14-20, 2007. Shinsaibashi, Osaka, Japan.

Bead Dreams, Hakone Open-Aire Picasso Museum, Mar. 34-April 1, 2007. Hankone, Kanagawa, Japan.

Bead Dreams, April 4-10, 2007. Matsuzakaya Department Store,Ginza Tokyo, Japan.

Harlequin Beads Featured Artist. Oct. 2007. Front window exhibition.

 Awards:

First Place, Bass & Bead Harvest Bead Challenge, 2006.

Finalist, Bead and Button Bead Dreams Competition, 2006.

Finalist, Puget Sound Bead Festival Bead Exhibit, 2006.

Featured Artist, Fire Mountain Gems & Beads Beading Contest, 2066-2007.

Winner, Art Bead Scene Challange. Theme: Mermaid Inspirations. July 2007.

First Place, Beaded Necklace, Santa Barbara Fair, 2008.

First Place, Beaded Bracelet, Santa Barbara Fair, 2008.

First & Second Place, Beaded Earrings, Santa Barbara Fair, 2008.