My Jewelry Journey

This endeavor I am on has gone through a few name changes throughout the years. I’m hoping Malli Jewelry will be the last. It encompasses the history of myself and my family, something that will never change.

There was never a time where I didn’t feel surrounded by art. Some of my only memories of my paternal grandfather are of him painting with watercolors in his hutch by the door in his small Texas apartment towards the end of his life. It brings me great joy to see these paintings hung in mine and my family’s homes. I was lucky enough to inherit his art supplies, and for that I will be forever grateful.

I remember art always being my favorite subject in school. I remember penguin collages, paper mache, clay vessels, drawings I did of myself with braces (which I was obsessed with and never needed), paper flowers, embroidered tea towels, and so much more. My youth was an exploration of creative expression.

I encountered jewelry at the end of my first decade. My paternal grandmother, my Yia Yia, brought myself and my sister to a small bead shop somewhere on Long Island in New York. It was there that I was introduced to the world of beads. I created my first pair of earrings (which I still have). When I returned home to Georgia, I requested to go to the craft store and picked up my own jewelry supplies. I still have the original needle-nose pliers and wire cutters that I bequeathed to myself from my dad’s toolbox. My first customers were my family and the sweet ladies at my dad’s work who allowed me to come in and create there. Some of them still wear the pieces I made them to this day!

It’s been about 17 years since that first pair of earrings, and I’m still here, creating. No matter what life threw at me, I always came back to jewelry. I will always be so thankful for the support of my mother, my Grammie, my friend Audrey, and my friend Katryn. No matter what I made, they always wanted my jewelry. I’m also so thankful for the support of my father. While he didn’t wear the jewelry, he toted me to countless bead shops and craft stores, some of them not so close to home. I was very lucky.

Malli jewelry is a dedication to my heritage, my family, the support I've had my whole life. In the early 1900s, my ancestors came to New York City. Their last name was Malli. My work is a nod to the past in the present. I find elements of the distant past hugely inspirational. Before modern era, a lot more reverence was given to the beauty of things that come from the Earth. I find inspiration from the stones I use, leathers, silks, found objects, recycled metals, and artisan made elements out of things given from the earth like clay and glass. In using these materials, it is my hope that the art I create outlasts me.