We love all of the amazing independent designers out there. In order to find out more about just what makes all of these creative types tick, we present to you an ongoing segment called Indie Designer Interviews.

Today's interview is with jewelry designer Julia Bristow, who creates hand-beaded jewelry inspired by nature, including her popular vintage-style fruit jewelry and beaded guitar straps and belts.

Tell us a little about yourself and your work. I am an independent jewelry designer. I make one-of-a-kind, beaded, handcrafted, signed, wearable-art jewelry, loom-beaded guitar straps and belts, healing gemstone and fertility jewelry and keychains, vintage-style fruit jewelry, handwired brooches, etc.

How did you get started as a designer? I originally began collecting vintage/antique costume jewelry because I found it appealed to the little girl in me to collect these sparkling rhinestone treasures and place them in a jewelry box, as they were pretty and fun to look at. I eventually realized I was more drawn to the signed, handwired and woven pieces with intricate designs which clearly demonstrated the detailed workmanship of these various artisans. My sister, Kristy Lee, also a jewelry designer, gave me some instruction and tools to make my first beaded bracelet. I had my own ideas after looking at all of my collected vintage pieces and with that new-found knowledge of how to go about it, I was on my way to realizing my new passion/hobby/career. I went on to teach myself various techniques which would enable me to create exactly the designs I envisioned.

What inspires your work? Nature, nature and more nature! I am a lover of Mother Nature – ocean, sand, forest, trees, flowers, rocks, water and sky. Each and every piece of jewelry I make is inspired by one aspect of nature or another. I always have some type of plant, flower, tree or scene of nature in my mind that I am trying to recreate in a piece of jewelry. Semi-precious gemstone beads, in particular, are my favorite beads to work with because they are made directly from the amazing and rocks of the earth. I enjoy the beauty and feel of each individual bead as no two gemstone beads are exactly alike. I admit my designs are based more on an artistic idea rather than any type of fashion trend. The beauty and colors of the beads themselves also inspire me.

Who are your favorite designers? I find I have definitely been inspired by Miriam Haskell's early handwired costume jewelry pieces.

Any advice you would give to aspiring designers? I think it is important to find enjoyment in the process of making a piece of jewelry. Beading should be fun and enjoyed as a hobby. I feel this will reflect in your work in the end.

Also, there are a lot of new web sites available offering people the opportunity to network with other designers or display their work for free: Etsy, Indiepublic, and TalentDatabase (just to name a few).

Where can people find your work? I decided to develop and manage my personal web site in order to display my jewelry and offer it for sale when I started to run out of room for all of the pieces I was making. I am also a participating designer at various sample sales and events, which are listed on my blog at: juliabristowjewelry.blogspot.com and where you can subscribe to the RSS feed for automatic updates of events and newly added items.

I also have an artist portfolio of my work on TalentDatabase which is a great artist gallery web site where designers, photographers, musicians and artists of all types can upload a free portfolio and receive and give acknowledgments to their peers. My portfolio can be seen here: www.thedb.com/juliabristowjewelry

Anything else? I recently released a very limited edition jewelry collection called Nature's Presence which is a small collection of one-of-a-kind nature-inspired pieces using beautiful hand blown glass centerpiece beads made by Harold W. Cooney, which I found to be very beautiful and unique. The advertisement for the collection can be seen on this YouTube video:



Also, I love connecting with people and have many various web sites where I greatly enjoy meeting people from all over the world. You can add me as a friend on Myspace or you can help support my site by becoming a "fan" of my Facebook page. I appreciate the friendships and all of the nice comments received on these sites.