A Lesson for Our Times – Re-creating Yourself, an Example

I met Julie Woods as she stood behind the sales counter at the Purple Poppy.  She was chatting with Crownsville “celebs,” Claudia Gemmer, Purple Poppy owner,  and Jane Birch, author of They Flew Proud.  I insinuated myself into the conversation since I had written about Jane but never met her.

We proceeded to chat for about forty-five minutes.  Part of the conversation was about business at the Purple Poppy and revealed Julie’s jewelry talents.  She had several pieces for sale at the P2.  Smelled like a story to me so I asked for her card, “Juelles’s Jewels” – clever.

As I planned my call for an interview with Julie, I began to assume her story in my mind.  Obviously, she was an art major in school – I could just tell, she had that artsy look.  I wondered if she had lofty dreams of creating art that would hang in the world’s museums. Well, once again, I proved that ol’ adage about assume!

With the first few sentences of our conversation, clearly, Julie was a woman in charge.  As to her background – she had been at the top of her game as a successful pharmaceutical sales person bringing down a top salary, she sold $3200 a pop parenteral drugs to hospitals. Then, she walked away.

For her, the economy didn’t force a change in a career, her disgust with, as she put it,  “the ethics and corruption” of her industry became intolerable.  She just stopped.  She didn’t have a plan.

What she did, though, is a lesson to all of us in this economy.  First, she looked for community college courses to keep herself occupied, and with time on her hands, she tapped into her long-dormant creative side.  She found a course on finishing techniques for beading and so began her journey to Juelle’s Jewels.

She explored different jewelry media.  She’d taken weaving when she was in middle school in Wales – seems she had some behavior issues her parent thought would be helped in a Welsh boarding school.  Now she connected weaving with wirework.

She took course from a wiremaster in Mississippi and found she had the touch.  She could feel what the wire waned to do.  She became an accomplished gold and silversmith and worked capably with the lost wax process.  Her love, though, remains wire.

Others have asked her to teach, but her competitive streak that probably propelled her in her previous employment now finds its outlet in jewelry competitions.  You can’t compete and teach.

Julie draws her inspiration from ancient symbols from her native Ireland, from museums and anything her “crazy brain” sees when she’s out and about.  She loves the Book of Kells and Irish symbology  so much that she has her own Book of Kells from the limited edition published in the 1980′s

She’s an admitted sapphire junky – an expensive habit.  Her second favorite is topaz with its many and varied colors – also her birthstone. The internal fire of these stones lends itself to faceted cutting.

Here, too, she’s found the opportunity to learn.  She’s a member of the Patuxant Lapidary Guild and the Baltimore Gem Cutters Guild.  She knows her stones and enjoys working with the cabuchon cut – unlike the faceted stones, these have a domed or flat top and, by definition, have a flat back.

Julie points out that wirework is tough on the hands.  She sometimes finds herself so engrossed that she doesn’t notice that she’s drawn blood.  She needed to become a consumer of lotions and creams, but she didn’t like all the junk she found in commercial preparations.  The answer to her question, “Do I have to make my own?” from her friends was, “Yes!”  She developed a line of body products.

So, how can a jeweler make soaps, oils, lotions, etc?  Having a masters degree in chemistry and physics is a decided advantage.  Now she’s selling her products, including a bath tea bag, on her site along with her jewelry and at the Purple Poppy.  This is a whole ‘nother story.

Julie divides her creative time between her jewelry and her body products.  Her sales force – herself-works farmers’ markets up to four a week in the summer.  This time of the year she’s at Westfield Mall every second Sunday at Nordstrom’ s entrance in the blue parking garage.

Gemstones, wire, and body products have led Julie Woods where she wants to go.  She has fabulous customers – regulars who appreciate and love her work.  Her body products add another dimension of interest.  She left her job, and never looked bake.

You can see more of Juelle’s Jewels  and her body products at the Purple Poppy right on Generals Highway in the front part of the building with Lures.  Stop in any day to see for yourself.   On Monday or Tuesday you can meet the artist.