By Stefan Yablonski
Lauren Wallace is a 28-year-old full-time clay jewelry artist as well as a preservation artist.
She is a jewelry designer specializing in polymer clay and resin. Wallace shares her work on Instagram @maedbymini and on her website www.maedbymini.com.
She just published her first book — “Polymer Clay Special Effects.”
It is a beginner’s guide to creating unique surface designs and beautiful jewelry, she said. She dedicated it to her late brother Jeff R. Wallace II.
The softcover book covers the fundamentals, techniques for beginners, exploring other mediums and more.
“It was just a medium I kind of happened on that just quickly evolved back in 2019. It started out as just more of a craft and took off from there. In 2020, I started my jewelry business,” she explained. “The publisher, Quarto [aka Walter Foster / Quarry], liked my work and asked me to do the book.”
They were looking for an artist who kind of worked in polymer, explored a lot of different techniques and mediums, she said.
“I have a pretty large following on social media. So that was a helpful point,” she said. “It was back in 2023, I think it was when I started the book. I finished in January and the book was published this past September, so it was just released.”
An artsy kid
She said she was always “kind of an artsy kid — music and art in general. The clay and jewelry stuff was kind of its own evolution.”
She has a website where she sells her products. She restocks once a month. Sometimes she will do it at a market to be more face-to-face with the people. But generally, she sells online, she said.
“I make mostly earrings and I’d say they are all pretty equally popular. They are all different, I don’t make the same thing too many times. The way I do it is I work out an entire collection. Right now, I am working on a stained-glass collection where the jewelry looks like stained glass. Then I will release it and then I will move on to the next collection — a holiday theme or a crystal theme, flower theme or something,” she said. “I wouldn’t say that I have something that particularly sells better than the others. They all generally sell because I am not repeating a lot.
“Inspiration? I don’t know. I just like very textured pattern colors. I love home décor and interior design. I love the earth and flowers. I love natural things that are beautiful like water and crystals and stuff like that.”
It’s fun to work with the clay, she said.
“It’s so malleable you can kind of do whatever you want with it,” she said. “It isn’t dangerous. It is a nontoxic medium. It’s not good if it gets burned, over-cured. Sometimes it has fumes, but it is generally a nontoxic medium that if it is done right is totally safe.”
Wallace has been doing this for six years now.
“Hopefully I get a little boost from the book,” she said.
“The book is full tutorial. It kind of gives all my secrets away — but that’s all right, she added.
In the introduction, she writes: “The goal of the book isn’t only to give you the knowledge and tools to expand your polymer clay skills, but also to encourage the ability to believe in the power of your own creativity. Within you lies a wellspring of untapped potential.”
Oswego native
Born and raised in Oswego, she graduated from Oswego High School. She currently lives in Syracuse.
Wallace is also a singer, songwriter, henna doer and people lover.
Her life has been a whirlwind of travels, adventures, new jobs, old jobs, art and love, she said.
“I’ve been lucky and blessed. I believe thoroughly in the message of love — to give of yourself is one of the greatest gifts,” she said. “I went to nursing school for a period of time. I did an exchange program when I was in high school, I lived in India for a year, my junior year of high school.”
When she was 15, she saved all her money and sent herself to India for a year on an exchange trip.
“Though my love for funky designs and art was always a part of me, it amplified once I tasted the life and color of India,” she said. “My career in art initially began when I started a henna business and it has blossomed from there. I travelled all over the US for fun, work and henna festivals.”
She made the move in 2019 to come back to Upstate.
“So now, here I am, back home in Syracuse, starting a family and making earrings in my little Westcott apartment with the love of my life by my side,” she said.
