Today I'm posting about a work exchange that Kelly Jean Conroy and I recently made. Actually, at the time of writing this my piece is in the hands of the US Postal Service and on its way to Kelly. Kelly was much more organised so I already have her piece. I first met Kelly at the 2017 SNAG Conference in New Orleans where she was one of the curators of the Adorned Spaces exhibition that Bench (including me) was in. This gave me the opportunity to introduce myself and to have a chat about our work. I would say there is an overlap of interests in the work that we make and we both had high praises for each other.

Months later, when Kelly was posting some new work to Instagram, I reached out to ask where the work would be for sale and she suggested an exchange instead. I find that enthusiasm for work exchanges can sometimes be a little one sided but in this instance I was so happy about her suggestion. She wanted a moth brooch from my Sentinels & Spectres series and I had expressed interest in her stone pendants laser engraved with drawings of hands. She gave me some options and I have ended up with a beautiful mother of pearl engraving that wears like a miniature vanitas. I had shown Kelly images of previous moth brooches and she asked for a black and white (my favourite) one with pierced holes pattern, I hope she likes it as much as I like her pendant. 

Despite being a maker of jewellery, I only have a very modest collection of other makers work and don't often get to wear the pieces I own. That being said, the piece Kelly sent me is so lovely and so wearable that it's already had a couple of outings and received many compliments. I put that down to Kelly's skill for creating engaging work.

Pics of both pieces below. Please excuse the image quality, they were taken on my phone. You can see more of Kelly's work on her website here.