NC Triangle Street Team: Local Featured Seller: Kelley Road

Who are you? My name is Wendy York and my Etsy shop is Kelley Road.

Where are you located? I live east of Raleigh in Wendell, NC.

What do you create? I am all over the place! I teach art at a local elementary school during the day so I find myself doing chalk, painting, and pottery at least every week and I love it! For my Etsy shop, I create fabric flowers out of satin and cotton, wire wrapped jewelry, and fabric purses. I put my fabric flowers on everything I make from hair clips to jewelry and purses. I am also currently working on some fabric batiks for my shop. My hands are dyed a little blue as we speak!

What is your favorite place to visit in the "triangle"? There are so many great places in the triangle. I love, love, love to go to the state farmer’s market in Raleigh during the summer. It is sweltering hot most of the time but I love seeing all of the colorful, fresh produce and the gorgeous flowers the farmer’s bring. The best part is taking some of it home! I also love Meredith’s campus in the Spring. Meredith is my alma mater, so I am a bit partial. The amphitheater is breathtakingly beautiful when the azaleas are in full bloom. A favorite shop that I wish I could go to more often is Ornamentea. That store is pure bead, ephemera, paper heaven! I have two young children so I don’t get to go as often as I would like, but when I get a chance to sneak away, Ornamentea is one of my favorites!

When did you start creating? I have been making things as long as I can remember. I had absolutely fabulous art teachers all throughout my school years that really nurtured my creative abilities and inspired me. They are the reason I am an art teacher today. Beads and fabric have been a consistent material I have used since I was a child. I still have my bead box that I toted around with me since age 10. About a year ago, I revisited sewing. I got my first sewing machine when I was 13 and I piddled around with it from time to time until right before Christmas last year. I discovered a love that I had gotten lost in my art teacher/mom/kind of hectic life. I have been sewing and creating with fabric just about every day since!
What is your most cherished handmade item? My two most cherished items were things I made for my grandparents. My grandad drank coffee every day out of a coffee mug I made for him in my college pottery class. When he passed, my mom saved the mug for me and I have it on a shelf beside a photo of the two of us. I miss him everyday. When I was a teen, I made my grandma a really cheesy underwater themed sweatshirt. It was pink, no less, and I painted the scene on with neon fabric paints. She loved it and wore it with pride. I still have that sweatshirt and it resides in my hope chest in its full glory.

What inspires you? Natural beauty inspires me. I am constantly in awe of the beauty of nature that surrounds us. In my artwork, I try to recreate that natural beauty. Flowers are my favorite source of natural inspiration. I also love sharing and receiving ideas with other artists and crafts people.

Where do you create? I have completely taken over our office/guest bedroom. I have an old sewing desk that I got on Craig’s list and I love it. It was a really ugly brown and I repainted it white and stenciled a damask pattern on the top and sides. It’s my favorite creative spot to be now. I also have a “tower” of bead boxes in the office.
Why did you choose your shop name? I grew up in Falmouth, VA on the street, Kelley Road. My large extended family lives on this road to this day. My cousin and I spent our summers at our aunt’s house on Kelley Road creating paper lanterns and making doll houses out of cardboard boxes. My family has been so supportive of me over the years, I wanted to honor my roots and name my shop after the very place where it all started. It is a special place where I was nurtured and allowed to blossom. My own kids spend part of their summers on Kelley Road now.