Jewelry Artist and Designer, Molly Magdalain, tells us about her background and her inspiration for designing jewelry.
SD: When did you start designing jewelry?Molly Magdalain: I’ve always had an awareness of jewelry and stones but I first started making jewelry with guitar strings in college during a summer break. I was living in a rustic cabin in Colorado and it was a very earthy place. I was doing a lot of energy healing work with stones and then I’d incorporate the stones into my jewelry. My friend taught me some things and I made a huge mess with beads (this often ends up being part of the process!) and eventually stumbled onto the idea that guitar string works well for jewelry. I was playing a little guitar at the time and when I changed the strings I thought—I could use these for something else.
SD: What inspires your jewelry design?
Molly Magdalain: Everything—I feel like I’m really affected by all of the things I do, see, hear and say. I notice jewelry other people wear—the shapes of buildings and furniture—the beauty of people and animals. I recently fell in love with the documentary film, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill, it’s about a flock of wild birds that has developed in San Francisco and a man who interacts with these birds on a very intimate level. I kept watching this parrot movie and thinking—they’re so beautiful, so naturally beautiful! These birds in particular have bright green mixed with bright orangish-red—it’s great. So I go to the studio after seeing a movie like that and I make jewelry with that kind of color contrast.
I’ve always had a sense of style and even trends, and for some reason my senses often fall in line or even precede the trends I see happening around me. I was home in Kansas City during college—6 years ago or so¯and I was shopping for a fake leopard print coat. I literally checked out every store in town. I looked at the coats whether they were expensive or not and they were all pretty much terrible! I finally bought one but I still felt weird about it and I declared " where the hell is all of the leopard print?" at that time. I came back 6 months later and that town was literally covered in leopard print. Now I can go to Target and buy a leopard print notebook, etc. So this is how a lot of the trends and changes happen to me—I feel them coming like an urge or a craving.SD: You are a painter, a musician, and a jewelry designer. Which is your favorite to express yourself?
Molly Magdalain: I’d probably say music since I’ve always felt it will eventually be my real job, but I love all of the work I do and I consider that to be a real gift. Songwriting is an incredible craft and something I do on a very regular basis. I do a lot of self-expressing because I think it’s a healthy thing to do. The jewelry has been good because it’s just such a wonderful business¯I’m selling things that make people feel more beautiful¯these are great gifts so it ends up being a very positive exchange. In general, I’m not limiting myself to one career. One of the biggest themes of my life is the fact that the skills I learn carry over from one thing to another. As a painter I taught myself to see the world, the objects around me, in a totally different light. I let go of the common definitions of things for a while, and I think it has affected other areas of my thinking.
SD: What is your background—where were you born—when did you come to New York City?
Molly Magdalain: I was born in Kansas City in 1978. I studied philosophy and art at The Colorado College in Colorado Springs and then lived in several different cities after college. I moved to Nashville for a few years and then finally to New York in 2004.
SD: What are your other interests and hobbies?
Molly Magdalain: I was lucky to grow up riding and showing Paint horses competitively. I won several world championships and other awards at a young age in my youth career, and then quit riding after that to pursue music. I’ve been involved in choirs and music groups since high school. In college, I was a member of Room 46—a student-run a capella group—it was the most popular group on campus. After college, I had a brief stint in a bluegrass band called ‘Stayin’ Home’ with Barclay Martin, Lisa Donald, and Kerry Stanley. We sort of released a record called ‘First Takes’ and then I moved to Nashville to pursue my own writing.
I do all kinds of art things like painting and other crafts. I weave things—I’m interested in making and designing furniture. Making jewelry isn’t that different than making a wall hanging—it’s just bigger blocks. I’m writing a few books right now. I also practice and teach Reiki. I’ve studied shamanism and other forms of energy healing.
SD: Were you creative as a child?
Molly Magdalain: I’ve never really done art because I’ve thought it was ‘good’. I’ve just done it because I wanted to do it—I needed to do it. I played the piano first—it’s like my first language. I think I wrote my first song when I was around 8 years old. From a young age I’ve thought about writing operas and musicals and songs and all kinds of things... I’m sure that someday I will have time to do all of these things.
SD: Why have you chosen jewelry design as one means to express your creativity?
Molly Magdalain: The jewelry work is very grounding to me. It’s very satisfying to produce things that are beautiful and that people love to wear. Almost all of my clients say that people really notice the jewelry when they wear it. I guess this is part of the reasoning behind the jewelry—it’s supposed to make you feel like a unique individual. I feel lucky that I get to wear my work all of the time—I try to wear something new that I’ve made almost every day.
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