JACKSON, Miss.- 11-year old artist Taylor Miller of Houston, Tex., will be on hand Saturday, Dec. 11, at Plum Nelly to introduce her unique line of jewelry to the Chattanooga area.
Taylor has recently been featured by the Mississippi Museum of Art as their young artist and was tapped to decorate an ornamental holiday tree for Bailey, Banks & Biddle's Houston location to benefit the Texas Children's Cancer Center.
Being honored as a young artist and continuing to expand the reach of her handmade jewelry is an exciting prospect to Taylor, whose story of how she turned her summer hobby into a thriving business is as unique as the jewelry she designs.
When at the age of nine, Taylor began disassembling her grandmother's old costume jewelry and restringing the beads on dental floss to make necklaces, little did she-or her parents-know that a year and a half later, she'd have her own business. But that's exactly what happened with this summer hobby, and now Taylor's unique designs can be found in specialty shops across the south.
Joining a few of her teachers for an after-school jewelry making class in May, Taylor fell in love with the art, and it only took one session for her teachers to realize the passion and talent she had for the craft. Soon after, they took Taylor to a wholesale jewelry market and introduced her to some of the well-respected vendors in the Houston area. And before she knew it, Taylor was in business for herself, now making jewelry for people other than her mother.
"I knew that Taylor's designs were special when people would stop me around town and ask where I'd bought my jewelry," said Taylor's mother Dana. "From there, Taylor
began bringing a shoebox full of jewelry to her younger brother Jack's little league games, and mothers there would wipe her out."
Looking for a more appropriate venue to market Taylor's jewelry, Dana's friend offered to debut Taylor's jewelry at one of her local art shows. Unfortunately, Taylor couldn't attend the show because of school, but came home to find that she'd sold out of most of her jewelry in one day.
But the innocence of an 11-year old cannot be stained by money, as Taylor says that seeing ladies in her community wearing her jewelry makes her the happiest.
"I like to make all kinds of necklaces, bracelets and earrings, but semi-precious stones are my favorite to work with," Taylor says of her craft. "I'm glad that people like my jewelry and it's fun to see people I don't even know wearing it."
A recognizable logo that can now be seen at The Pink Door in Memphis, Tenn., Oxford Floral in Oxford, Miss., Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, Miss., Plum Nelly in Chattanooga, Princapessa in Houston, Tex. and throughout the Houston community.
"We want for Taylor to continue having fun with this, and to never think of jewelry designing as a chore," Dana said. "Right now she's having a ball . . . and doing pretty well for a hobby."
Constantly being asked by nine-year old son Jack what he can do to make money like Taylor, Dana tells him, "keep practicing baseball, and maybe one day you'll be able to buy all the jewelry your sister can make."