Featured Artist Friday: Inyeri Designs
Please join me in welcoming Ally Morcom to the blog. In addition to writing lovely fantasy, singing, playing the piano, drawing, painting, sculpting, being quite a skillful rock climber, and being a 5th Kyu in Genbukan Ninjitsu -- she is also a dear friend, and has recently started a business making and selling fine jewelry. (Seriously, I don't think one person should be allowed to have so many talents).Her business is called Inyeri Designs and her tag-line is "Find Your Reflection."Today, I have the great pleasure and privilege of featuring her over here on my little ol' blog. Let's dive on into the interview, shall we?Good morning, Ally. As we kick off the interview, could you tell us a little bit about how and why you got into jewelry making?
I honestly don't remember clearly! I know that I was having a 'try out all the hobbies' kind of year, and I guess wire jewelry made it into the mix. I asked for basic supplies for Christmas that year, and produced "Currents in the Expanse," a pendant that I still love, though it's long since sold. As I made more and more pieces, and people started to ooh and aaah over them, I thought, "I'm never going to wear all of these. I should sell them."The philosophy for the actual business came a little more slowly. But I'll explain that more as we come to it.Your pieces are so unique and lovely. How do you get ideas for so many different designs? Where do you draw your inspiration from?That's hard to define, but the best way I can put it is that each piece is the abstraction of an experience. I'm a very visual person, and so I think of emotionsand sensations in terms of color and shape, and so the pieces often reflect
that. I also have a very, very strange trick of 'seeing' someone in the same context—that I understand their personality and it translates into visual elements in my mind. So people can also inspire the jewelry, although, unless it's a commission, it tends to take on its own unique character during the actual creation.You do a lot of custom pieces for specific customers, and your process is fairly unique. Can you walk me through how you go about determining a design for a custom request? 
Haha! I can try! So I mentioned that I 'see' people in a funny way. One way I can get that 'vision' of a person is through descriptions and photographs, and knowing what they like and what they're interested in. Once that knowledge is in place, I jot down a few words that come to mind when I think of them—light, deep, reserved, charismatic, serious, artistic, linear, jovial, loving, fierce, protective—whatever they may be, and start to design based on that understanding I have of them. It's almost like they have made a hand- or soul-print, and I design something that reflects the person that made that impression.It probably doesn't make a lot of sense when I say it that way, but here's what it's like in action:I was doing a commission for one young woman (call her Katie), and when I looked over the photos, there were several pictures of her being fun-loving and laughing hard with her family. But outside of that intimate context, the pictures became more somber, thoughtful, and reserved. I was told that she was artistic and patient. I heard that she loved her husband with silence as often as words. I saw her spinning, laughing, loving... all inside this refined, creative world she'd built around herself. And from that soul-print, I designed for her.
The options I present tend to have similar underlying elements, but each one highlights different aspects of a person's character. Among the four final choices, the client said "They are all very much like her," and then simply picked their favorite. So "Nimbus" was created-- whorls of silver, dancing around the crimson pearls that so suited black-haired, bright-smiling Katie. But dancing in concert. Dancing perfectly in time. Refined, and patient.. It became a reflection of her as her friend saw her. As I had now learned to see her, too.This is why Inyeri is branded with the words “Find Your Reflection.” Furthermore, even if it's not a commissioned piece, I believe if the jewelry is a reflection of its wearer, they will be able to see glimpses of the experiences and loves and magics that inspired it. And, delving a little deeper, still I can't create from an experience I've never had, or at least seen. So if I have absolutely nothing in common with you, then you won't find your reflection with me. 
But if there's something in life that is common between us—a wonder, a love, a pain—then you might see a fragment of that experience resting in Inyeri's jewelry case. So not only have you found a beautiful piece of jewelry, but you've found some common ground. Some understanding. And you knew you weren't alone in the world. I knew you, just a little, because I knew myself, and in some small way we reflect one another. And out of that shared experience, I made something for you, to help you remember, to help you live and breathe with all of your being, not just the pieces that keep the machine running.If you'd like a more visual (far less abstract!) walk-through of the basic commission process, you can go here:www.FindYourReflection.com/
Because I have loved many wonderful people, and among the best of them, there is a common, tragic theme.In the rush of life and the tyranny of the urgent, sometimes we start to lose ourselves in what we do. We are busy trying to do everything, to be everything to everyone, perfect. Most days we would settled just for being adequate. We forget about who we really are, whether that be the stillness we are in a quiet moment, the bright, bursting neon light we become during an adrenaline rush, or the smiling, chiding warmth we exude in the rough-and-tumble love of family. Whatever it is you are, you know it. But if you spend your life loving and serving others, then often you forget. Your family and friends see it, and when you detract from your character or criticize your appearance, they shore you up with how they see you. But frankly, most of the time you don't believe them.Somehow, in our busyness and our want to be everything... we have become actions rather than an essence.
But when you stop. When you catch that sidelong, ephemeral glance from the person in the mirror and it stops you short.And you remember.You remember that you were yourself before you were anyone else.And I hope that, on your shelf or in your jewelry box, there's a bright, shining reminder of what you glimpsed for only a moment, but what those around you see and love every day. And I hope I made it for you.That is beautiful. Okay, I have to ask what is "Inyeri"? How did you come up with that name for your business?The word "Inyeri" comes from my college years. I was (as I imagine most college-age people are) going through a period of self-discovery, where I was both seeking and deciding who I was, and who I wanted to be. And there was a definite, discrete part of me that noticed the beauty in the smallest things, that danced in the rain and was loath to despoil a perfect blanket of fresh-fallen snow. And I gave her a name, a name that to me sounded like the night wind on the water beneath a silver moon.
As I grew and matured, obviously I stopped naming my facets. I took Psychology and learned about multiple personality disorder and I think it spooked me a little! But the name Inyeri stuck around, and I still loved the sound and the idea of her. So when the business emerged from the fog of my indecision, it seemed only right to name it after her. Not only because she's the creative side, but because she's the side that most easily gets crowded out in the currents of necessary tasks. And if I want to keep remembering who I am--all of who I am--I have to remember and tend to "Inyeri" by letting that side of me out for some air and light every so often. I figure others are the same way, and I hope the pieces I make help you remember to take the time for all of you, not just the utilitarian facets. What is your favorite piece you have designed? Why was it your favorite?
I unfortunately could not possibly choose one that I like the best. I could tell you ones I'm most proud of, because of the skill or ingenuity or imagination they took to produce, but... how do you choose one face out of a crowd as your favorite? They are all personalities, moments of creativity and beauty that are unique unto themselves. This is why I never make the same thing twice."Currents in the Expanse" (pictured on the right) holds a special place in my heart because it was my first piece. And that color of blue just loses me inside it.I like the "Isis Torque" for its lovely central pendant and the speckles of light in its natural stone. I love "The Aether's Heart" because I had just finished reading "The Aeronaut's Windlass" and Inyeri was all full of the broad-sky wonder of an aether-powered airship world when I created that pendant.I could go on. But every piece has a story, and while they may never all be fully told, I know each one. So no. No favorites. :)"Currents in the Expanse" was my favorite, too. Though I say that every time you design something new and post pictures of it!Where can people go to learn more about Inyeri Designs or purchase your fine jewelry?I am very excited about my new website! Thank you for asking! www.FindYourReflection.com has information on commissions, a 'Jewelry Case' where you can view available pieces, and news about upcoming events, sales, and givewaways. You can also contact me there with any questions, including re
quests for customization or hand-written gift notes to go with your selections. I'm always happy to add a personal touch.I will be doing a Christmas giveaway very soon, which will happen on the Facebook page, www.facebook.com/
Thank you so much for coming by to tell us about Inyeri Designs, Ally! It was a pleasure hearing you talk about this exciting new business and the philosophy that started it.The Christmas sets (In the Christmas Room, Mountain's Midnight, and Ice Skating Snow Flurries) you see pictured in this post, as well as the Isis Torque and the Sands of Tibet bracelet can all be purchased through Ally's website. The other pictures were included because they're pretty! And to give you an idea as to the sorts of designs Ally is capable of.Or you can hire her to create a unique, custom piece for you or a loved one. I have commissioned two different sets with Ally and can attest to the fact that she is a true pleasure to work with.And if anyone wants to get me a Christmas present... that Ice Skating Snow Flurries set is seriously making me want to go get my ears pierced.