By Anna Grace Moore
Photos by Blair Ramsey
A soul’s song is often transparent of the diversity in humanity’s narratives. Such songs are often unsung–yet, they are physically created, symbolizing the heart’s longing to be understood, to be heard, to be appreciated.
Art–the most beautiful motif of visual storytelling–communicates such raw emotion through color, composition–elements capable of eliciting questions and sparking conversations about the human experience. In a way, art expresses what words cannot.
Hoover-based jewelry artist Kerry Leasure believes her life’s work is a tried and true illustration of this message.
Kerry graduated from Hollins University, majoring in English. She later earned her teaching certificate and taught kindergarten for 10 years prior to welcoming her three children into the world.
After moving from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Bluff Park, Alabama, for her husband’s career, Kerry opened an antiques booth at the Hoover Antique Mall and began selling vintage jewelry on her Facebook page. As she began toying with broken and discarded items, she ventured down the rabbit hole of turning other people’s trash into her own treasure troves.
Slowly, Kerry began doing a couple of small, local art shows. She began sourcing materials from estate sales and antique stores–searching for all the “weird” items no one else seemed to want.
Some of Kerry’s first pieces of jewelry were bracelets made from clip-on earrings–motifs of her passion to seek out beauty in the mundane. These simple jewelry pieces, she says, are the intersection between her love of vintage goods and her schooling as an English major.
“When I pick up objects, I search out the meaning of the item and what could be its story in combination with other objects,” Kerry says. “I’m taking their individual stories and putting them together to create a cohesive tale. That’s why I call them storyteller pieces.”
A visual storyteller herself, Kerry believes the best stories are often created with puzzle pieces that when woven together, paint a beautiful picture one could not see before. Her necklace, “Instant Creation,” was created from a jar of old electrical buttons someone gave to her at the Kentuck Art Festival in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Its sprawling wires create a mane of fascination linked together on a figaro chain. Another unique necklace, “Let’s Burn Down the Patriarchy,” is made of Littelfuse plates, which are circuit protectors and the perfect dose of irony for the social reformer customer with a good sense of humor.
“The things that I made last year and this year are completely different, which is why people keep coming back I think,” Kerry says. “I like to say it’s never the same studio twice. When you come into my booth at an art fair, it’s going to be all new ideas and all new creations.”
Kerry enjoys using play-on words, titling each deserving piece creatively as a nod to its own story of which she hopes customers will relate. “Cabinet of Cure-iosities” is a health-inspired necklace composed of an Anusol Hemorrhoidal Suppositories tin, a Penslar Laxative Cold Breakers tin and a St. Joseph Aspirin tin on a chain with wooden beads.
Other necklaces in Kerry’s collection are humorous political statements–such as “Not Drinking the Kool-Aid.” It features poison labels and a “winking” Kool-Aid pitcher connected together, symbolizing how not all people are as innocent as they seem—don’t drink what the politicians serve.
“Protection from Pricks,” which is one of Kerry’s favorite jewelry lines, features iterations of the guardian theme–thimbles sutured together as extra “protection” from one’s everyday annoyances. No matter the collection, no one piece is ever the same.
“I get some adverse reactions, but that’s totally fine because that’s the point of art,” Kerry says. “It’s to evoke a reaction–be it positive or negative.”
Art is the physical manifestation of the heart’s emotions–one’s story that needs to be told. Kerry’s burning drive–art shows–are the perfect culmination of imagination from hundreds of unique storytellers.
Kerry says she has had customers stroll into her booth unassumingly and leave crying happy tears because they found a piece that not only resonates with them, but also reminds them of their purpose. On the flip side, she has also had customers worriedly ask her, “Do you see a therapist?”
Kerry, who now does nearly 15 art shows each year, always laughs and replies, “Welcome to my therapy,” showing off her life’s creations proudly. While each show presents its own challenges, Kerry enjoys the mental stimulation, garnering inspiration for her next jewelry pieces.
One of Kerry’s most esteemed moments at an art show was at one of the largest in the country–the Des Moines Arts Festival, at which out of 1,200 applicants and 190 selected artists, Kerry won the Award of Excellence for Best Booth in 2023. Kerry also earned respect from national art curators, winning the Museum of Fine Arts Houston Curatorial Award for Excellence last year at the Bayou City Art Festival in Houston, Texas.
Although being recognized is always nice, Kerry says she hopes her art serves more purpose than just being “wearable jewelry” or worthy of “blue ribbons.”
“Art is just intuitive, and of course, it makes me feel energized and alive, especially when I’m getting to share it with other people and hear their stories and how they’re connecting to my work,” Kerry says.
Creating art is important because it allows one to foster original thought and erect tangible emotions physically for the world to see. As Kerry’s children started becoming school-age, she decided to pay her talents forward and return to the classroom setting.
For the last five years, she has volunteered to teach art to elementary students through the Kentuck Artists in the Schools program. Returning each year has become a tradition to Kerry, and she says she will always cherish the smiles on those precious students’ faces, happily creating outside the confines of what is acceptable.
“I think everybody is an artist,” Kerry says. “You just have to find what’s inside of you that is uniquely your own.”
Oftentimes, the ability to create is innate; yet, a catalyst needs to be ignited to spark a dream into reality. Kerry hopes that if nothing else, her art can be that fuse for other people–a loving reminder that no matter one’s age or experience, he, too, can create beautiful things.
If art is a medium for self-expression, then let it be known the most powerful artists are not necessarily the most talented but are the bravest visual storytellers, who are cunning enough to transform their narrative transparently as a piece of the world’s shared humanity.
To view or purchase Kerry’s work, visit hereachickthereachick.com.
