Alicia Burgett crafts unique jewelry
Alicia Burgett has been evolving. A sketchpad that she’s kept from her childhood is filled with realistic portraits and is proof of her inborn creative talent, a talent fostered by a household that revered all forms of art.
“My brother is a truly gifted classical guitarist, and my mom is an artist and overall crafty in anything she chose to do,” Burgett said. “My dad has great talent, but has really fostered his business side, and after I grew up, I did, too. I have always held talented artists in very high regard.”
Burgett, 48, is modest. She considers herself a “conflicted artist,” because for years she had put her creativity on the back burner in order to focus on parenting two boys, running a home, and building her career as a board-certified lactation consultant.
She did a little scrapbooking and stamping to quench her need to create and then she evolved into what she is now, a beading artist. Some of her pieces have titles like “Ice Queen,” which is made with a white shell and mother-of-pearl, “Sunset in Paradise,” made with shells, glass and a wire-wrapped quartz pendant, “Spanish Moss,” “Go Native,” and “Botswana Sunset.”
“I name the ones that speak to me,” Burgett said.
She started beading about five years ago and got serious about it the last couple of years. She works in a studio in the basement of her Newman Lake home. She calls it her happy place.
“I’m in there as often as I can be,” she said, “It gives me balance.”
She can often be found there past midnight.
She uses high-quality gemstones and accessories, and her pieces command higher prices than “craft fair” prices. Her work is one-of-a-kind, crafted from a deeply rooted creative place. To wear her pieces is to wear a work of art.
“It’s a kick to discover a gemstone I’m not familiar with and then I’ll do some research on it about its properties, and sometimes it’s that research that can shape the design of the next piece I make,” Burgett said. “I hope that some pieces of jewelry really can have some meaning or a story to tell.”
Her newest necklace designs will include small works of original art pressed between two glass slides soldered around the edges. She is also working on bracelets for those who have loved ones in the armed services.
Burgett enjoys what she does and said she creates for her sanity’s sake.
“I don’t think of myself as an artist,” she said. “I just have a need to create. It’s more for me. Promoting has never been a big priority. I’m going for a ride and seeing where it takes me.”
Burgett participated in the recent art walk at the Valley Mall where she made some sales. She also shows at Art, Music and More. Still, Burgett doesn’t think she fits the image of an artist, whatever that is. She is animated, quick to laugh, young at heart, decorated with works of art from her ears to her wrists, and evolving.