Cheryl celebrates a completed class with a student.
January is the month of hobbies — and a great time for me to share how my “hobby turned life’s calling” of jewelry-making has allowed me to explore facets of myself.
Quite honestly, I don’t remember wearing a lot of jewelry before I started creating it. My first jewelry creation happened when I was 15; one of my older sisters taught me how to finish a flex-wire necklace, bracelet and earrings for my freshman homecoming.
Since then, I have pored through beading magazines, books and any other references I could find, seeking jewelry designs and modifying the featured materials to use items I could find myself. I've learned that the materials I choose, and how I unite them in a piece of my creation, is an endless discovery.
For example, I’ve learned that I often look at the human body as a canvas to adorn. I pull colors and patterns as a way to balance my femininity with my androgynous look. Organic materials like bones help me embrace my masculinity and hold to my punk-rock roots.
The jewelry I choose for myself is based on accentuating my lines and dark features. I like simple, large, pieced looks that are quick and easy to choose in the morning. I choose jewelry based on not only style and color, but also, what am I doing that day? What energies do I want to take out into the world with me? The self-reflection of intentionally choosing jewelry, even for a moment each day, is a great starting point to the day and often happens even before I choose my clothes for the day.
Being a teacher of DIY jewelry techniques helps me bring these qualities and decisions to the awareness of others. It also helps me provide my students with benefits I’ve learned. Being self-taught has many advantages, but it can leave you confused or uncertain about why certain materials and tools are being used in those books and magazines. Taking a class from someone trained in the field helps fill in those blanks and also provides a space to ask questions. My goal with every class is for everyone there to relax, learn a new skill, use their very own hands, and maybe fall in love with jewelry-making like I did.
I want art to be accessible for everyone, and I want everyone to succeed at my classes.
Every student receives personal attention during my classes! If someone is growing frustrated, I’m there for support and so are the other students, often. We almost always finish with lots of laughter. Even when more than one student is lost, the camaraderie they experience helps everyone keep going, sharing tips they’ve each found.
• In addition to jewelry-making, writing is another craft I’ve always enjoyed. So when I teach, part of the fun is finding different ways to explain how to execute a technique. I work closely with my wordsmith-friend Chris; we take hours to write instructions for each class, taking pictures while we work to illustrate the techniques close-up. Often, we learn from students and incorporate THEIR words into the instructions., we’ve been working hard to write our own instructions, taking pictures while we work for more photos showing up-close techniques.
Each of my courses take about two hours, and I aim to have at least four people attending. I try to encourage everyone to take the written instructions with them and continue creating on their own.
This year, I’m bringing my classes to at least three eastern Iowa locations: The Create Exchange in the Czech Village in Cedar Rapids, ReAlive Metaphysical and Repurposing in Marion, and LET’s Center for the Healing & Creative Arts in Washington.
Keep watching my Facebook page, Eventbrite or my website for new courses and how you can find one near you! Happy New Year from Chereal Designs, let’s create something beautiful in 2020!
Cheryl Weatherford leads a recent jewelry-making class.
Cheryl leads students to create their own selenite wands during a recent class.