Kelly Stacey

kellystacey1961@gmail.com
 

Kelly specializes in bead weaving. She enjoys making an assortment of jewelry pieces, including bracelets, pendants and earrings, and also creates various items she calls “whimsies.” These include tapestries and other wall hangings, decorative boxes, and a variety of holiday pieces.

For many years, Kelly, who serves as AAOS treasurer, has practiced a variety of art forms that she considers more craft-oriented, embroidery being a favorite example. She explained that, “after a major depressive disorder episode,” she started beading as a form of therapy.

Today, after 14 years, her single needle bead weaving art spans many motifs. Her work ranges from beautifully complex and meticulously assembled jewelry, including some mixed media pieces, all the way to pop culture images such as yin-yang and dancing bear tapestries. Of course, as an Ocean Shores resident, she occasionally finds inspiration in beach themes, and enjoys beach-combing for shells, agates and rocks that may become parts of some future projects.

Last year marked her first foray into
swelling her artwork. She tried the new Market By the Sea that ran during the summer outdoors at the Lions Club on Ocean Shores Blvd., as well as the AAOS Arts & Crafts Festival Labor Day weekend and the Thanksgiving weekend Winter FantaSea event, both at the Ocean Shores Convention Center. She plans to return this year to Market By the Sea and the AAOS Festival.

Kelly, her husband, Wes, and a rescued terrier/chihuahua mix she said is appropriately named “Stinky,” moved here two years ago from Portland, OR, where she was born and raised. She enjoyed the fortunate timing of retiring from a public health job with the State of Oregon just before the pandemic began. After finding Oregon Coast property too pricey, they began looking up this way and quickly fell in love with a home on the Grand Canal.

“I love living in Ocean Shores,” she enthused. “This is the best move I ever made!” While the change from big city to small town has occasion-ally involved a bit of culture shock, she’s found it easy to make new friends and get involved in new groups, such as Associated Arts of Ocean Shores.

Kelly can be reached through her Facebook page, and at her email address, kellystacey1961@gmail.com