Kelly Bit: This Former Journalist Pursued Her Passion of Creating Wearable Art

After years of working as a financial news journalist, Kelly realized that she missed the creative arts as a major part of her life. She started spending her free time making jewelry, and the intentional lifestyle switch brought her a lot of fulfillment.

SUBLIMA is a sustainable, handmade jewelry brand, referencing subliminal messages that produce hidden feelings in our everyday lives. Art imitating life.

Don't miss out on our previous newsletter, titled ”This Revolutionary Platform is Making Real Estate Accessible to Everyone,” where we highlighted the game-changing efforts of Concreit in democratizing real estate investments.

Read through as we explore Kelly's journey of following her passions, the artistry and intentionality behind her jewelry, and how she is bringing her love of art and design to the world through SUBLIMA.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

I’ve always loved crafting. I’m an only child, and when I was very young, I spent a lot of my time drawing or creating cardboard models of things that I found delightful. I’ve always been captivated by beautiful forms and well-loved objects in our every day and creating artful homages to them.

During my career as a journalist, I missed crafting and the creative arts, so I started spending my free time making—drawing, painting, sewing, and creating jewelry. I wanted to invest in one of those hobbies in a more disciplined way, and I saw jewelry as having commercial prospects. I enrolled in metal smithing and wax carving classes after work, and that’s what gave me the skills and confidence to start a jewelry brand.

THE CREATIVE PROCESS

I love commemorating ordinary moments of delight by capturing something of their essence through elevated and artful jewelry that I make by hand.

I have many delightful memories centered around food and the people I enjoy it with, so that’s one reason why many of the pieces are Asian food inspired. I also tend to notice beautiful and aesthetic aspects of food all the time—like the way milk tea splashes with movement, or the mesmerizing repeating folds of dumplings—so those types of details make me want to highlight how interesting they look through an unexpected art medium.

The way that I make my pieces is by carving wax by hand to create wax prototypes. The prototypes are then molded, and from the molds, the pieces are cast in recycled brass or sterling silver and polished and assembled by hand.

WHAT SHE HOPES TO COMMUNICATE WITH HER DESIGNS

I love seeing how different people style the jewelry and how they implement their vision of themselves—what they want to project into the world through their self-expression—using the jewelry as part of their toolkit.

My general hope is that the pieces can be marveled at as wearable works of art and that conceptually they serve as a reminder to see an elevated beauty in everyday moments. For some styles, like those based on Asian food or other cultural motifs, I’d love for people to wear them with a sense of pride or appreciation of Asian culture.

WHAT SETS SUBLIMA APART FROM OTHER BRANDS

Aesthetically, I aim to make jewelry that looks unlike anything else in the market, at once striking and timeless, with quality that lasts a lifetime. My designs are unusual and eye-catching, somewhat abstract, and can be styled as edgy or classic. Executing these concepts while drawing inspiration from my Chinese American heritage and Asian culture helps set SUBLIMA even further apart from the rest.

The rise in anti-Asian hate after the pandemic made me turn specifically to Asian culinary delicacies as a source of inspiration, to create symbols of cultural pride by elevating the beauty of Asian food through the art of jewelry in a highbrow way, and it’s not something that I’ve seen done by other artists.

Resources for small business owners

Asian Hustle Network has partnered with Verizon Small Business Digital Ready to bring the AHN network a free program designed to give small business owners the tools needed to succeed in today’s digital world.

As a Small Business Digital Ready member, you’ll gain access to free courses, group coaching with industry experts, networking, and discounts on products and services from Verizon and partners.

Enroll in an interactive Q&A session below or see the full July calendar here.
Why Your Digital Ads Aren’t Working & How to Fix It: Learn about the top platforms today and how to utilize them - July 24, 2023 | 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM PT