Charleston Crafts Artist Biography

Birthdate:

Kasey Briggs

Polymer Clay/Beadweaving

Charleston, SC

kasey@kaseydesigns.com, www.kaseydesigns.com

Briggs Design and Consulting

Kasey's Creations

4/9/1960

Please describe your craft:

One-of-a-kind handmade jewelry and accessories. The polymer clay jewelry is made from my own handmade beads and canes. Beadwoven jewelry is made from glass seed beads and often includes my own unique accent beads and/or found items.

How did you get started in your craft?

I became an artist through a very circuitous path. I never considered myself artistic as a child, and there were not many artistic resources available in rural Kansas where I grew up. In college I majored in archaeology and I began to work with computers. My early design work was done with computer graphics programs. I began to make my own jewelry in the early 90's and eventually left my increasingly managerial multimedia design job to pursue a more creative lifestyle.

What inspires your work?

I am inspired by patterns, both natural and man-made. The geometric patterns in the structure of a flower or leaf, the architectural details on a building, the play of light and shadow in a forest or the stratigraphic layers in stone or soil catch my eye and become part of my work. I am also fascinated by traditional decorative patterns and symbols that have been used in arts and crafts in many different cultures over thousands of years.

What would you like customers to know about you and your background?

1982 BA Classical Antiquities & Anthropology (Double Major) University of Kansas.

1985 MA Art History and Classical Archaeology, University of Missouri-Columbia.

Although I decided not to pursue a career in Archaeology, I find that I am now returning to my earlier interests and drawing inspiration from the prehistoric cultures I studied.

Please list any selling tips that might encourage a customer to purchase your craft (such as function, ease of care, cleaning, safety, etc.):

Every item is guaranteed to be one-of-a-kind. I make my cane designs in very limited quantities.

Kasey Briggs

Polymer Clay

Polymer clay is a high-grade plastic material consisting of PVC particles suspended in a plasticizer. The clay, which comes in a variety of colors, can be blended and shaped using a variety of techniques and it remains soft until it has been cured in an oven. Popular brands of polymer clay include Fimo, Premo, and Sculpey III.

These designs are not painted. They are created by building the clay into canes or slabs, then layering or slicing to create the finished designs. The designs are then made into beads or adhered to wood, glass, metal, or more polymer clay to make the finished objects.

Mokume Gane

Mokume Gane (wood-grained metal) is an ancient Japanese metalworking technique that has been adapted for use in polymer clay. Very thin layers of clay are stacked on top of each other, then the stack is deformed and selectively sliced to produce a naturalistic wood-grain effect.

Polymer Clay Box created with Mokume Gane slabs.

Kasey Briggs

Freeform peyote stitch necklace

Beadweaving

Beadweaving is a process through which glass seed beads and thread are woven together to create a "fabric" of beads. The beads are not glued down or together. Each bead has at least two different threads going through it and many have more. For security, the threads are knotted and secured at regular intervals.

Beadweaving is a tradition that goes back hundreds of years and it has been a part of traditional crafts from all over the world. I use a variety of needle-weaving and loom-weaving techniques to create my pieces. These techniques are derived from traditional and modern sources.

Amulet Purse with Jalai-work design. Peyote stitch.