WILMINGTON — Artist and metalsmith Jessie Yeager loves the idea of storytelling through personal objects. Simple pieces of crafted jewelry that can be worn everyday and passed on from generation to generation, the stories and characters inextricably linked.
With delicate precision and heritage craft skills, Yeager creates pieces of jewelry under her label I Like It Here Club. Named in honor of her grandfather Fred Yeager, who was held captive at a Japanese POW camp in WWII.
The club was created to boost morale and lend support to his fellow prisoners and went onto to inspire his granddaughter jewelry collection.
Yeager learned her craft at the Savannah College of Art and Design, majoring in metals and jewelry. After graduating she returned to Wilmington and gained experience in the business at Edge of Urge before launching her own collection.
From her studio in Wilmington, she creates delicate, understated handcrafted pieces using an assortment of metals, from brass to gold, all inspired by people and places in her life.
You have a great story about where the name I Like It Here Club, comes from, can you tell us more about it?
I Like It Here Club is named after my grandfather, Super Fred’s Morale Boosting Club, while he was held as a POW during WWII. Even in captivity, Super Fred’s positive attitude and belief in education made him boundless and in that way he protected himself and those around him. He even continued his own education in POW camp by learning Russian fluently from another POW, continuing on to become a military attache in Russia after the war and a Russian professor at Rider College. When it came time to name my jewelry line, I wanted each piece to radiate his positivity and creativity. My hopes are it will inspire the wearer to stay positive, keep an open mind, and take another glance from a different point of view.
Where do you get your inspiration?
I receive inspiration from all around me, from stories and small quirks from Super Fred. My grandmother’s large collection of art and design books from throughout her life (the 70s design books are my favorite), to travels and adventures in everyday life, all inspire me. My newest collection I took many memories from Super Fred and turned them into motifs and patterns etched into different designs. Fred wrote my family letters everyday and the Highlights Ring is a motif that he would use while highlighting a certain word in a letter, usually squiggling around the word GRITS, since he loved grits.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received that you actually followed?
While in school, I had a professor that would always claim “it’s just metal,” which really made me realize that metal is an extremely forgiving metal; you can hammer it, file it, sand it and mold it into whatever your heart desires. Sometimes it is important to realize that if something isn’t turning out the way you envisioned it, you can keep working with it over and over again until you get it right and sometimes you find some happy mistakes along the way. I constantly find myself saying, “it’s just metal” before I do a big step in a project.
Tell us about two of your favorite pieces in your collection?
I am really excited about this new collection I am releasing this Fall, piece by piece. The artist’s ring is named after my Grandmother, Grandmommy June, who was an amazing painter. She had a glass prism hanging in the window of her home in Santa Fe, New Mexico that created an explosion of rainbows in the front room. The artist’s ring is a classic wearable band with a pastel rainbow of stones, gypsy set along the front with a tiny rainbow moonstone in the back. I feel like this ring can evoke emotions and memories like this to the wearer as well.
The Cleopatra earrings were inspired by the line drawings of famous artists such as Matisse and Picasso especially their deconstructed drawings of the human form. I loved how they would give so much information from just one line. These statement earrings have a similar line quality, then as you get closer you realize they are actually snakes biting the ear.
Do you have a favorite material you like to work with?
I love working with brass, silver and gold as I am most comfortable with these materials. I am also playing around more with wax for the lost wax casting process. While in school I also incorporated a lot of fibers into my work as I love the medium.
How has living and working in Wilmington shaped your design aesthetic?
Living in Wilmington has had a huge effect on how I get my inspiration and design aesthetic. I was lucky enough to grow up in Wilmington, where my mom taught me to body surf and got my sister and I got a surfboard right when we moved here. I fell in love with the ocean and surfing which has led me to travel on surf trips with my husband, Taylor. These travels have inspired me most in my design, gaining inspiration from different cultures, learning about their art and architecture, meeting new people, and learning about their history.
What do you look for in a piece of jewelry for yourself?
For everyday, I love wearable, simple and classic. I’m like a cartoon character and wear the same thing most days, you can usually find me in either a dressed up version or dressed down in denim, T-shirt or blouse, vans or boots, and some jewelry of course! That being said, I do have a love for big fun costume jewelry as well! My Aunt Jann gave me a large hat box full of her old jewelry many years ago, which I still love! I like to bust out some wild pieces from her collection every now and again from large crystal prism clip on earrings to a large wooden safari animal necklace!
The artist’s ring is a great example of what I look for in a piece of jewelry, bright and colorful full of gems that promote positivity and protection, gypsy set so it won’t snag on things, and solid gold so it can be an heirloom piece you can pass on – it’s the perfect everyday wearable ring.
What are some of your favorite places in Wilmington to hangout?
Oh man, there are so many great new businesses. I love Bespoke and Annex for coffee. Satellite for bar. Sealevel for vegetarian food. So many great breweries too – FlyTrap, Wilmington Brewing Company, Wrightsville Beach Brewery, so many great spots! My absolute favorite place to be though is out on the water.
Do you have any upcoming projects we should know about?
I am currently launching my new collection through my email list piece by piece! I normally launch a new collection all at once, but I love the idea of showcasing each piece and giving it the spotlight! My dear friend Emily Caulfield also writes all of the product descriptions which are beautiful and create a scene around each piece that get highlighted in the emails as well.
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