Hello. Nice to Meet You!

So, I’m busy trying to get my original jewelry business idea to work at a higher level than before. Not that the first idea wasn’t successful. It’s just that it wasn’t something that I could sustain my family on.

I’m Marquina Rawlings and I am an artistic jewelry designer.

I choose wire and bead combinations that I want to use to construct jewelry pieces. My goal is always to come up with some designs that are out of the ordinary, something that everybody isn’t necessarily wearing already.

Sometimes that means that I create designs that people fall in love with immediately, which is always fabulous. And sometimes that means that I create designs that don’t come into the trends for a couple of years. I suppose that it could be a bit discouraging when a few of the pieces take longer to sell than I expected, but who cares? I’m always excited by the next idea that pops into my head, so the frustration doesn’t last for very long.

Anyway, the idea is to create jewelry that speaks to people. This would be jewelry that a person feels expresses their personality. I’m all for individuality and the jewelry speaks for itself.

Sometimes I’ll create a piece that’s a bit outrageous and, instead of doubting that it will sell, I’ll watch to see who it attracts. I just love to see who purchases that piece of jewelry. It’s exciting for me.

People ask me, “Have you taken any classes?” “How did you get started making jewelry?”

The answers: 1) No, and, 2) Remember how back in the 1st grade we had to make macaroni necklaces? Yeah, that’s pretty much how I got started.

I had no idea at the time that it was going to become a passion for me, although when I chose to make jewelry for a metalshop project in art class in the 10th grade, that probably should have been a clue for me.

It wasn’t, though. I was told to come up with something to make so that I could get graded on it, and that’s what happened. I loved art and I loved getting good grades.

I was in the business of making hair accessories when I stumbled onto jewelry-making again. I took a look at a necklace I saw in a store and thought, hey, I can do that.

I used to be a seamstress and a bit of a clothing designer before I started making jewelry. Honestly, I loved to design clothing but I didn’t have the patience to watch the design come to life. So, I switched to making jewelry. It takes a LOT less time!

I think people expect some sort of super-extravagant story when they ask me about my history. You know, like I was trained alongside Judith Jack (LOVE her marcasite jewelry!) or was discovered by Sharon Stone or Halle Berry or something like that.

I wasn’t, you know. So it’s a bit amusing to hear the deflated “Oh…” when I tell the macaroni story. Because they’re looking at my jewelry and trying to think about macaroni at the same time, which is pretty funny from my point of view!

Honestly, jewelry is just something I really enjoy doing. And asking me how I do what I do is kind of like asking the person who is totally fabulous at cooking how they got that good. You’ll get a blank look from them because there isn’t really an answer to that. They just are. That’s the answer.