Bijougirl Designs = Amanda Conley

Little Tang and Coral Necklace

Amanda Conley is the talented artist behind Bijougirl Designs. She is another one of our newer Etsy Metal members...yet she has been been active in our private forums and is a regular contributing author on this blog. I have recently had the honor to meet her and her enthusiasm is contagious. We are proud to have her on our team!

1. Where do you live, and where are you from?
I was born and raised in Nashville, TN and I still live here with my husband and three kiddos.

2. How did you get started working with metal?
I met my husband while majoring in fine art in college. He's still doing the whole painting thing, and it's going well for him, so I guess I turned to metal so I wouldn't be directly competing and we could both be artists but be doing different things.

3. What are a few of your favorite pieces at the moment?
My favorite things to do are birds and flowers and nature related things. This is one of my favorite necklaces right now:

Lovebirds Necklace

and I'm in love with this ring:

Little Flower Amethyst Ring

4. What inspires you (artists, objects, interests)?

There is so much that sparks my imagination. I can hardly focus on anything because I'm always thinking about which jewelry piece I'm going to make next. I think I'm most inspired when I'm at church or out in nature, though.

5. Do you have any other artistic interests?
I used to really love painting and sculpture, but I haven't really done any of that since my kids were born. Maybe one day I'll have time to everything again!

You can find more of Amanda's work in her Etsy shop Bijougirl Designs and read her musings on her blog. You can also see her husband, Seth Conley's paintings here.

Composition 4029 by Seth Conley.