Letter from the Artist:
March 2011
I am proud to unveil a new website for Felice Designs. The last website was launched in the summer of 2005 and since then quite a few things have happened in life and at the store. As many clients have turned into close friends over the years, here is a (somewhat) brief synopsis!
Hurricane Katrina landed in New Orleans about a month after our website was launched. As a native New Orleanian, many of my family members and friends were affected by the ensuing flooding. My parents rowed to their house in a neighbor’s canoe to survey the damage of their home of 30 years. If there is a silver lining, my parents relocated to Charleston for 14 months before moving back to their beloved Big Easy.
In the meantime, my sister, Danielle, who worked for Felice Designs for three years, moved to Dubai, United Arab Emirates. There, she worked as editor-in-chief of a luxury magazine, Yachts Emirates. She is currently living in New Orleans and serving as Communications Director for the New Orleans City Council President.
In December 2007, Lea Pressley began working for me. Hers is the face that you see in the store and the voice that you hear on the other end of the phone Tuesday through Saturday. (You will see me there every Monday). Lea hails from Greenville, SC, and is the mastermind behind this lovely new website.
2008 was a particularly poignant year. My niece, Campbell Grace Banta, was born in April. Watching my sister, Kathleen, and brother-in-law, Ben, become parents for the first time was thrilling. Kathleen and I were fortunate enough to experience pregnancy together. She was in her third trimester while I was in my first. On October 16th, Hume and I welcomed Felice Lemoine Killian into our lives. She was a tiny baby, 6lbs, 6oz, who held your attention with sapphire blue eyes. She firmly gripped her Daddy's finger moments after birth and he proudly told her, "Felice, you can have anything you ever want". She became the third Felice, my mother being the first.
Her birth was a bright spot for my family as my mother was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer eight weeks prior to her birth. I spent months in New Orleans with my parents and baby girl, and my mother passed away in November 2009. Many of you knew my wonderful mother and will not be surprised to know that she is missed greatly.
A little over a month before Mom passed away, Kathleen gave birth to another daughter, Paige McKinley Banta. Now 15 months old, Paige looks more and more like her mother every day. Hume and I also had a second child, a son, Jax Viguerie Killian on December 29, 2010. Born on my mom’s birthday, Jax has a full head of hair and sideburns!
In business news, I have been so fortunate to have been voted best jewelry designer 3 years running from the readers of the Charleston City paper. It is a lovely honor every year and I proudly display the plaques in the store.
I participated in a wonderful show at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art in Richmond in 2007 and 2010. Jewelry designers from across the country were invited to display their wares in the beautiful museum.
The creative juices consistently flow and I am proud to have designed many new pieces in the last 5 years. The Jawbreaker, Danielle collection, and Hearts are just a few. I have changed my style somewhat, adding simpler pieces in design and color, surprising myself the most. I am so used to layering lots of bold colors on each bead and creating intricate designs. Using only one color per bead used to be a preposterous idea! Now, in some of my new lines, I embrace minimalism and the effects generated by more subtle designs.
Lea updates the website daily, so check in often to see that latest designs. We are also on Facebook, so don’t be a stranger. I would love to hear from you!
Felice
