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... but the pieces by acclaimed
designer MARGARET ELLIS are anything but grandmother’s
strand of pearls. Margaret’s is a name long synonymous
with sculptural, art-inspired jewelry and she focuses on
one-of-a-kind pieces in 22-karat gold with unusual stones
and pearls. For years a favorite of Nashville’s elite,
Margaret is now recognized nationally.
The road to finding her stunning success
is a winding and colorful one. Margaret grew up an only
child in what she calls “a rather unstable domestic
situation.” “I read a lot,” She says,
“and was fascinated with the world beyond my borders.
I discovered early on that I had a creative drive, but never
understood how to channel it.” In college, she majored
in art and fell in love with painting. She moved to Nashville
with her first husband and took a job teaching art to support
them while he was a graduate student. “The marriage
ended before his PhD, and I was still in a job that wasn’t
my life’s calling,” she says. “I just
didn’t know what that calling was.” During the
early 1970s, profoundly affected by the Women’s Movement,
she received a master’s degree in counseling. She
took a year off from teaching to try to discover what she
really wanted. “It was during this year that I first
learned to make jewelry,” she says. “I realized
pretty soon that this was my personal form of creative expression.”
By the end of that year Margaret
had to return to teaching. She also rented a small studio
and spent her weekends and afternoons there, creating jewelry.
Later she bought a fixer-upper in Nashville’s Belmont
neighborhood. “I was what was known as an urban pioneer,”
she recalls. “At that time the street was pretty edgy,
but I was able to get the down payment together and fix
up the house literally with masking tape.” She soon
met her then-neighbor and now husband for the past 26 years,
Fred Ellis. They married in 1981 and two years later, with
Fred’s support, Margaret gave up teaching to create
jewelry full-time. “I was not an overnight success,”
she says. “The first years were pretty hard, but I
had a drive and determination that still amaze me.”
While originally
focusing her jewelry toward the fashion market, her pieces
have gradually become more art-oriented. Margaret Ellis
Jewelry has been featured in major fashion magazines and
sold in high-end department stores and specialty boutiques.
It was featured in the iconic TV series Sex and the
City and the recent film, The Devil Wears Prada.
Her beautiful studio is located in Cummins Station, a renovated
freight warehouse building in downtown Nashville. Fred handles
the business end, while a staff of three master craftspeople
assists her in design and production.
HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH STRESS?
Laughter, yoga, a glass of wine. But not all at the same
time.
WHO IS YOUR PERSONAL BEAUTY ICON?
Love her or hate her, I say Madonna. She has used her face
and body
as an art medium for years, and I have enjoyed watching
the changes.
IF YOU COULD CHOOSE
A PERIOD OF TIME TO LIVE IN BECAUSE OF ITS LOOK WHICH ONE
WOULD IT BE?
I love the look of the 1940’s, but I like the freedom
of expression that we have today.
WHAT IS YOUR VIEW ON PLASTIC
SURGERY?
I think it’s great as long as it isn’t pulled
too tight, jacked up too high,
or blown up too big.
IN FIVE WORDS HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE YOUR STYLE?
Jeans, boots, jewelry, great bag.
WHAT’S MOST
SURPRISING ABOUT YOU?
I honestly don’t think that people who know me are
surprised by anything. I like to think that what you see
is what you get.
WHAT’S YOUR
GREATEST REGRET?
Staying in relationships and situations that needed to end
long before they did.
YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
Wasting my time.
GREATEST INDULGENCE?
Two weeks in Mexico every winter. However, this may be a
necessity.
WHAT POSSESSION DO YOU MOST TREASURE?
Possession with a capital P: my sense
of humor. With a lowercase p: I love my car, a 1992 Mercedes
500SL. It’s been around the block a few times and
still looks and runs pretty good, but requires a lot of
maintenance. We are very simpatico.
IF YOU WERE GRANTED THREE WISHES
WHAT WOULD THEY BE?
1. Equal rights for all people would
become a reality. 2. The great abundance of our planet would
be enjoyed by all. 3. All people would live in Divine Health.
WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU’VE EVER
RECEIVED?
From my Dad. “If you can’t
say something good about someone, don’t say anything
at all.” He did a pretty good job of this. When I
do, I feel much better than when I don’t.
WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE FASHION
DESIGNERS?
Jil Sander, Donna Karan, Jenne Maag,
Tehen Pol. Sarah Pacini. I like clothes to be very minimal
in detail, so that I can do maximum with accessories. Shoes:
Prada, Lucchese Western boots. Bags: Prada, YSL (from Tom
Ford era) and Kooba. And, of course, I wear my own designs
in jewelry.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED ABOUT LIFE?
A positive attitude is a very powerful
force.
WHAT TALENT WOULD YOU MOST
LIKE TO HAVE?
Most of the talents I would like
to have would take a great deal of
time and discipline to perfect. But, if there were no price
to pay, I’d love to be a really great dancer.
IF THERE WERE ONE THING YOU COULD
CHANGE ABOUT YOURSELF WHAT WOULD IT BE?
I would never stand in front
of the mirror and look for my faults.
WHO ARE YOUR HEROES?
My heroes and “sheroes”
are those people who step outside the
boundaries and break the rules. They are people who work
for justice and for creative expression, who use their talents
and resources to help others, and to help others be who
they are. Joan Baez, Jane Fonda,Bono, David Bowie, Mel White,
Steve Cohen, kd Lang, Margaret Cho.
HOW DO YOU MEASURE SUCCESS?
I don’t measure success by
the amount of money a person has, but rather by the satisfaction
they have with their lives. It is important to understand
that what you do and what you have doesn’t define
who you are.
WHAT IS IT THAT YOU DISLIKE
MOST?
Factory farming and the slaughter
of animals.
WHICH HISTORICAL FIGURE
DO YOU IDENTIFY WITH MOST?
Georgia O’Keefe
WHAT MAKES YOUR HEART BEAT FASTER?
When the plane lands in New York.
One of the greatest blessings of my life is that my work
has taken me there several times a year for many years.
MY PHOTO: A photo that Fred took of me
in Mexico a few years ago holding an iguana
MY FOOD: Vegetarian
MY RESTAURANT: Margot. I love the atmosphere
and I love Margot’s style as well
MY FILM: Hard to pick an all-time favorite.
I recently was really impressed by Away From Her with
Julie Christie
MY ARTIST: Mark Rothko
MY FLOWER: Antheriums
MY SONG: “Beyond My Wildest Dreams,”
written and sung by my pal, Marshall Chapman, who is also
one of my all-time greatest “sheroes”
MY GIFT: There was a particular Prada handbag
I had really admired, in fact, lusted after. A friend that
I do business with showed up with the same bag. I told her
how much I liked it. She gave it to me on the spot. Wow!
MY BOOK: A Home at the End of the World
by Michael Cunningham
MY SOUL MATE: My husband, Fred.
True to her down-to-earth attitude, Margaret
now uses Nashville-area celebrities as models in her local
ads, and does all of her own work-related photography. She’s
introducing a jewelry collection for men as well. “I
hope to continue to grow for many years to come,”
she says. “It is very important to me that the work
is a vehicle for growth, and not just work.” —
C&LM
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