Atlanta’s Trecy Bleich never thought about making jewelry until she wandered into a craft store. Now the self-taught designer’s own architectural and sculptural pieces can be found in museum shops and chic boutiques around the country.
The artist: Bleich grew up in Summertown, Ga., and graduated from Savannah State University with a marketing degree. In 1994, she moved to Italy for three years, then Germany, where she studied modern design, German and worked in the kitchen and bath industry. In 2002, she and her-now husband moved to Atlanta.
The company: Vella mode, started in 2010 in Atlanta. In her home studio, Bleich works on a sturdy bamboo work table.
The company name is special: Vella (from Evella) is her mother’s nickname. Mode means fashion in German. Bleich’s husband is a German native.
The goods: Simple metal and hand-beaded jewelry, including necklaces and earrings.
What’s popular: Hand-beaded hematite work, usually in a mix of satin hues, and the brass, 14K gold-filled Shaggy necklace ($80) and earrings ($58), inspired by shag carpet in her childhood home.
Other favorites: The minimal but meaningful Open Circle collection ($15 to $85) serves to remind people that whatever challenges encircle them, there is always a way out.
Inspirations: Her fashionable mother with her tailor-made suits and felt and feathered hats. Also the shag carpet in her childhood home.
Also, the clean lines of modern design that Bleich discovered in the art and architecture in Europe. A few of her pieces are based on the minimal structure of the Pergamon museum in Berlin.
Fun (or unusual) request: Asked to make an assortment of earrings and necklaces from her Gege collection as gifts for dancers in the Boston Ballet. The gifts were distributed after the 2019 premiere of “Full on Forsythe.” The buyer chose Bleich’s work, she was told, because her designs were “modern and different.”
Big break: At an artists’ market about four years ago, she met a buyer from the High Museum of Art’s gift shop. Her work has been in the gift shop ever since.
Touch of fame: Actress Jasmine Guy bought a few of Bleich’s pieces at an eco-artists’ market in Atlanta a few years ago. Also the Open Circle collection appeared in Handmade Business magazine in 2016 and 2017 feature in Salt Lake City magazine.
What’s next: More hand-beaded designs using hematite semi-precious stones. Also two-dimensional or other pendant designs using hand weaving.
Where to buy: www.vellamode.com
Get social at: vellamodejewelry on instagram
