| Anticlastic raised right hand bracelet from the Series Terra Collection ~ 2004 Photo: Doug Yaple |
| In today's world, I feel blessed to have work that makes me feel so good. I feel even more blessed to have the ability to pass that feeling on to others by the very nature of them wearing something I've created. All I hope about my work is that it shows how very much I love what I do! I'm frequently asked if it isn't difficult to part with the art jewelry pieces that I make and my reply is always the same. "My connection with each piece is as a mutual agreement between myself and the metal. I make the suggestions; the metal has the ultimate say in its' final outcome. In the end, I simply facilitate the meeting between the 'owner', if you will, and the piece I helped create. It was a part of my soul, but it was never mine to keep." I believe it's best to share the joy of creation. |
| Gold, silver, copper and gems. With consuming passion and full time dedication to her art, self taught metalsmith Pamela Bellesen creates stunning and original personal adornments in metal. Her one of a kind art jewelry pieces may only be purchased from her (but will soon be available in select galleries). Her three commercial lines may be found in high end boutiques and galleries around the country. Pamela is a member of the Seattle Metals Guild, the Society of North American Goldsmiths (SNAG) and the American Craft Society. In 2002, with the blessings of her husband, Pamela left her full time job to start Wide Mouth Frog Designs. Within the first year, she began her move from bead based jewelry designs to metal work. Originally, she only sought a way to add more of herself to the beaded jewelry pieces she was creating. "But once I touched the metal, that was it. There was no turning back. Metal feeds a part of my soul like no other medium I've ever touched", says Pamela. She began what she calls her 'course of study' through the 'University of Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com' devouring information like a sponge. "If I would have be employed elsewhere when this happened, I would have probably been fired, because I thought of nothing else. Now, I practically eat, sleep, think and dream metal!" Knowing that she needed to find a balance between her art and the need to have a steady income, Pamela developed the wholesale side of her business. "If I'm the only one selling my work, I'm not going to make a living at it. I needed to get my work into stores and that was going to be a huge commitment". In 2005, just three months after her husband had a stroke, Pamela took her lines to her first wholesale trade show in Portland, OR. There she met a wonderful woman named Sherry who happened to be a sales rep showing several lines in her own booth. Sherry looked at Pamela's lines, loved what she saw and agreed to take her on as a new artist. Working closely together, Pamela and Sherry began the business of building the wholesale side of Wide Mouth Frog Designs. By the end of 2007, Pamela's work could be found in over 40 high end boutiques and galleries across the country and she now employees two part time studio assistants to help with the work load. Pamela says, "My future goals are to find additional reps and build the business enough that I will be able to hire one of my sons to work as my full time studio assistant. Making this a family operation would be a happy factor". Pamela is a member of the Seattle Metals Guild, American Craft Society, a Youth Mentor with the Kitsap County Juvenile Department, a member of the National Association of Professional Women and a former board member of Cultural Arts Foundation Northwest. Learn who Anna is and see her art. Pamela lives with her husband Paul and has four wonderful children and four beautiful grandchildren. You may contact us at: Studio Wide Mouth Frog 3577 NE Lincoln Road Poulsbo, WA 98370 Phone 360-265-0597 Fax 360-697-9633 wmfdesigns@yahoo.com |
| StudioWide Mouth Frog |
| The Offering Copper Lotus flower candle and incense burner. For Refuge Ceremony January 2009 Studio photo |
| Uncommon beauty in metal art |
| You can view a gallery of my work and, from bottom, up, see the evolution of a metalsmith. Although the concentration of our efforts are going to be on the wholesale side, I will continue to work on designing and fabricating a collection of beautiful one of a kind pieces of jewelry in sterling silver and faceted gemstones. |
2011 has been an amazing year for all of us at Studio Wide Mouth Frog, aka
Wide Mouth Frog Designs. We've been adding sales reps for our wholesale
line and are going through some major changes in our focus of making
metal art. We will be concentrating most of our efforts on our wholesale
jewelry line, in the coming year, and so you will see some up coming
changes to our website. This site will continue to be updated in the next
couple of months.
There will not be any classes taught at the studio in the coming year. We've
LOVED having students here in the studio learning how to manipulate metal
and see the seeds of new metalsmiths germinate and begin to take root.
This will be a highly missed aspect of the changes that will be taking place
here this coming year, but teaching is something we will continue doing in
the future.
New wholesale reps will continue to be added in the next couple of years as
we expand our line into the mid Atlantic region, Colorado and in 2014, into
California. We are very excited about this expansion and are happy to report
that we are also stimulating our local economy by hiring additional studio
assistants to work side by side here in our Poulsbo, Washington studio
making all our own metal parts, creating our own texture plates and
designing and making wonderful jewelry that sells very well for all our
retailers.
We also have plans to make a Studio Wide Mouth Frog page on Facebook
were you can 'LIKE' us and keep up with all the happenings here at the
studio. So keep checking back because things are really popping here at
the studio!
Wide Mouth Frog Designs. We've been adding sales reps for our wholesale
line and are going through some major changes in our focus of making
metal art. We will be concentrating most of our efforts on our wholesale
jewelry line, in the coming year, and so you will see some up coming
changes to our website. This site will continue to be updated in the next
couple of months.
There will not be any classes taught at the studio in the coming year. We've
LOVED having students here in the studio learning how to manipulate metal
and see the seeds of new metalsmiths germinate and begin to take root.
This will be a highly missed aspect of the changes that will be taking place
here this coming year, but teaching is something we will continue doing in
the future.
New wholesale reps will continue to be added in the next couple of years as
we expand our line into the mid Atlantic region, Colorado and in 2014, into
California. We are very excited about this expansion and are happy to report
that we are also stimulating our local economy by hiring additional studio
assistants to work side by side here in our Poulsbo, Washington studio
making all our own metal parts, creating our own texture plates and
designing and making wonderful jewelry that sells very well for all our
retailers.
We also have plans to make a Studio Wide Mouth Frog page on Facebook
were you can 'LIKE' us and keep up with all the happenings here at the
studio. So keep checking back because things are really popping here at
the studio!