Slow Southern Style is going to be featuring a few guest bloggers each Monday to liven the place up and get some fresh voices on a variety of subjects. This week you’ll meet Jess Leigh of Jess Leigh Jewels. In addition to designing her own line of jewelry Jess also works at Lola Boutique here in New Orleans. Stop in, pick up a piece and tell her you saw her here on Slow Southern Style!
-Christy
Jess Leigh Jewels are uniquely inspired, one of a kind jewelry created by Jessica Leigh. Independently designed and locally handmade, each piece is crafted with love and a passion for a beautiful life. Finding antique pieces that have been neglected or just out of style, Jess Leigh takes these babbles and jewelry apart to breathe new life and style into them. Most of her line is made up of one of a kind pieces by using this method of deconstruction and reusing of materials. With a wide range of items starting with fun, costume pieces and extending to beautiful, semi-precious stone pieces, there is something for every girl. Wear a pretty little thing and know you are very special and loved, just like your Jess Leigh piece.
-Christy
Jess Leigh Jewels are uniquely inspired, one of a kind jewelry created by Jessica Leigh. Independently designed and locally handmade, each piece is crafted with love and a passion for a beautiful life. Finding antique pieces that have been neglected or just out of style, Jess Leigh takes these babbles and jewelry apart to breathe new life and style into them. Most of her line is made up of one of a kind pieces by using this method of deconstruction and reusing of materials. With a wide range of items starting with fun, costume pieces and extending to beautiful, semi-precious stone pieces, there is something for every girl. Wear a pretty little thing and know you are very special and loved, just like your Jess Leigh piece.
When I am asked what inspires me, I immediately go completely blank. Communicating my inspiration has long been plagued by stage-fright! It never fails and it is these moments I wish that talking in pictures and colors were appropriate for someone my age. Since it is not, I have to really dig deep to find what appeals to my creative side in order to express it in actual words.
Beauty. I grew up in rural Ohio and have rich, vivid memories from that part of my life. Dandelion bouquets, barefoot summers, the smell of fresh cut grass, lightning bugs in jars with tin foil lids, the local ice cream stand, spending time on the lake with my family, all still course through my veins like it was yesterday. I can see the echoes of my childhood enthusiasm in the pieces that I make. Now that I’m a grown-up, I am still quite captivated by the beauty of everyday life. Adoring the flowers while walking, driving down the lakefront or riding my bike along the bayou, admiring my neighbor’s butterfly gardens, and embracing the true love of friends are all examples of day to day inspiration my jewelry reflects.
Adventure. A fresh shipment of stones just begging to be transformed into something unique for someone to cherish inspires me. My close friends know this very well. I start toting my little kits everywhere and I’m pretty sure a few of them have found a bead or two after I have left their homes. Other times, I will work non-stop at my little cottage until the entirety of the stock is new jewelry to behold. The search for a dusty old gem buried in an antique store that I can rescue and make sparkle again is one of my favorite pastimes. I get a rush when I see something I know will be amazing if used another way and my mind starts spitting out ideas! My appetite for a new outcome and the desire to see what a few hours can create keeps me coming back for more.
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| Photo by Mark Gholston |
Strength. I am a transplant to this beautiful city. I have called New Orleans my home since December 2009. My journey here has had many twists and turns, but I somehow know this is where I was always supposed to end up. I have felt more alive and more at home here than anywhere I have ever been. I love everything about New Orleans. This city has also had to suffer hardships and through some miracle has only grown stronger and more beautiful. Hope and love have prevailed. The human spirit cannot be defeated; and I too, have grown and healed here. Thank you New Orleans, you have given me more than inspiration!
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| Photo by Mark Gholston |
Life. I believe in feeling immersed in the things that make us happy. There are so many wonderful encounters, new friends to meet, and beautiful things that I have already experienced, it is hard to imagine there is more. The best part is that there is! I look forward to more inspiration. I am thankful for everything and all my precious loved ones that have been inspirational to me. More than anything I am happy and that inspires me the most.
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