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Born in Bluefield, W.Va., Blair Sechrest currently resides
in Cary, but as soon as she could hold a pencil, she was making
art.
Sechrest has always loved art and earned her BFA in art education
from UNC-Greensboro. Before pursuing her love of jewelry full-time,
she worked in several retail jobs, as an administrative assistant
and finally as an assistant office manager. She has been making
jewelry for about 10 years and has made her own glass beads
for six years.
Sechrest is inspired by everything around her. Whether it
is sites she saw on a vacation, patterns and colors on fabrics,
or magazine pictures, she looks at the details of her surroundings
to find new ideas for beads. She always keeps a notebook handy
to write or sketch ideas.
Sechrest always wanted to make jewelry; when she started she
bought other artists’ beads for her jewelry creations.
When Sechrest discovered that she could make those beads herself,
she jumped at the chance to take a class and learn. She has
been making her own beads ever since. She has had formal art
training since attending art school at UNC-Greensboro. Sechrest
has taken classes with many other glass artists, as well as
attended several trade conventions and gatherings. She continues
to take classes whenever she can.
Sechrest has several design processes. Sometimes, she will
make several types of beads and then later incorporate them
into her jewelry. Other times, she will sit down to make beads
to fit a specific jewelry design. Once the components are complete,
it doesn’t take long to finish the final piece.
The beads themselves are made using glass rods melted in the
flame of a bench-mounted torch. She tries to make as many of
the components of a final piece of jewelry, from the ear wires
to the clasp of a necklace. She mostly uses sterling or fine
silver, and occasionally accents her own beads with other small,
manufactured beads or semi-precious stones.
Her work is always evolving and transforming. Sechrest will
fall in love with a particular style and work with that design
for a while before wanting to master another style. She does
have certain designs that she favors and revisits from time
to time.
Blair Sechrest’s work is located on ArtWalk’s main
level. With three and a half floors and more than 300 local,
regional and national artists, ArtWalk is located at 611 W.
King St. (across from Mast General Store) Boone, N.C. 28607.
Though ArtWalk is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m.
to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m, customers may shop all
the time at the gallery’s online store. ArtWalk continually
welcomes new artists of all media and ages to inquire about
individual gallery booths for rent. For more information, call
(828) 264-9998, email artwalkboone@yahoo.com or visit www.artwalkboone.com.
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