Mini Interview with Leslie Yang of Feisty Elle

Today’s Jewelry Artist Mini Interview is with Leslie of Feisty Elle. I’ve known Leslie for a number of years and have always admired her work, but her new stuff just blows me away.  It’s unique, hip, strong but still girlie.  So without further ado, I bring you the feisty goods of Feisty Elle! (all photos copyright Feisty Elle 2009)

How did you start doing jewelry (or bead making) as a business? 
Until recently, Feisty Elle, produced handmade women’s brooches, bobby pins, hair clips, and badges made from felt and cotton fabric. I was obsessed with felting before it became popular, and taught myself both wetfelting and needlefelting. However, I became frustrated over how many womanhours I would put into a single piece and how low I would have to price it be able to sell or move it. Talk about depressing and not profitable! I’ve now begun to phase out of producing handfelted work and begun to introduce more laser-cut industrial wool felt into my work, which finally gets to answering your question! When I first started designing laser-cut accessories, I designed brooches and hairclips, and just for fun, I made a smaller version of a dahlia brooch design to fit onto a bobby pin. A friend of mine saw this small design said she’d love the design instead as earrings. And here I am, designing felt and bamboo earrings!

Do you remember the first piece of jewelry you ever made?
Yeah! You’re taking me back, Barbe! It was in this arts and crafts class in fifth grade where we made paper beads and strung them into long necklaces.

You are stuck on a desert island for a year and can only take 5 things to make jewelry with-what would you take?
One, I need my CS4 design software; I’d feel naked without it. Two, and this is totally cheating, but I’d love to bring a lasercutter with me. Three, that means I’d need some sort of solar-powered generator to run the lasercutter and my laptop. Four, a year’s supply of bamboo ply and felt in every imaginable color. And five, dark chocolate because it’s delicious and keeps me going.

What would you like to work with/or what skill would you like to learn that you haven’t yet?
I would love to work with a 3D printer.

What do you do when you aren’t making jewelry?
I’m most likely either working on the biz side of Feisty Elle, reading design books, reading too many blogs, eating out too often when I should be cooking at home, and scribbling new jewelry design ideas in my sketchbook.

Thanks for the interview Leslie! And if you are in San Francisco, Leslie will be selling her feisty accessories at Renegade Craft Fair Sat & Sun July 18th & 18th at Ft. Mason.