Being Remade

I’m so excited to start featuring artists I love!  And by “love” I mean I love their work, but even more I love their HEART!  This week I want to spotlight Jacquelyn Berry Rogers, of ReMade in Mississippi.

The last time I saw this beautiful girl, she was about six years old sitting still while I painted her face at the Wesson flea market.  Reconnecting with her as adults is fascinating, and seeing how she’s embraced life is why I knew–even way back then–great things were in store for her.

I asked Jacquelyn to tell me about why she pursues a creative path, specifically in working with jewelry.  I know you’ll be as blessed as I was and feel her charming, warm spirit just oozing through her words.

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For the life of me, I cannot recall a time when I wasn’t a crafter. I grew up watching my mother and grandmother sew, quilt, crochet, and embroider. In his free time, my father repaired his own arrows and reloaded his brass casings and shotgun shells for hunting. Hands-on work appeals to me and always has.

At a young age I began simple cross stitch and–bless her heart–my mother attempted to teach me to use a sewing machine. I could spend hours in my room with a hot glue gun, popsicle sticks, construction paper, and empty Coke bottles. I, of course, went through the “glitter everything!” phase, and over my high school years I painted and repainted every piece of furniture in my room. Multiple times.

I have dabbled in pottery, ceramics, woodwork, and metalwork. Every morning I wake up with a new project in mind, but most of them never make it past my sketch/ideas journal. Time and space are limiting factors for me as they are for many crafters with lofty ambitions, so our journals get thicker and heavier.

This is what brought me to jewelry. My hands stay busy and my compulsive need to create is satisfied while my two year old plays “big trucks” at my feet or naps in the next room. Is jewelry a passion for me? No, but creating is.

The “remade” aspect of my craft, however, I am passionate about. While I am not a super-environmentalist, I try to do my part. I recycle, try to buy local produce, cook as many “meatless Monday” meals as my husband will allow, and only buy sustainable sourced seafood (you don’t want to have a conversation with me about salmon or tuna). With that being said, reusing and re-purposing materials is my way of trying to contribute to the “green” movement by making something desirable out of another something that would otherwise be forgotten in a drawer or thrown away.

My ReMade in Mississippi jewelry is the beginning of a journey I am pursuing with the support of my loving husband and amazing family. I hope that one day what started out at a tiny work desk in my living room will end up pushing my skills and patience to the limit in a workshop filled with sawdust, tools, a pottery wheel, and all sorts of broken, dented, cracked, and rusted materials begging to be ReMade.

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   Browse ReMade in Mississippi jewelry at  www.etsy.com/shop/ReMadeMS 

Thank you, Jacquelyn, for sharing your story. The image of forgotten things being found, cherished, and made into something beautiful reminds me of our own Creator. What a picture of God’s heart for us your jewelry is: making something desirable out of something that would otherwise be forgotten.