Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Kelley.
Ryan, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I have always been artistic. My mom worked at a local toy store, so she was always bringing home educational games, art supplies, and hands on activities. As the end of high school neared, I found the art room to be my home away from home. Wire was a material that was readily available and cheap, so I found myself working with it almost every day. The freedom to build and experiment and fail was so inspiring to me and grew my artistic process. After graduating high school in 2011, I kept up with the wire sculpting, and along with other part time jobs, slowly grew a small business of crafts and sculptures. Over seven years later, my business is my primary source of income, and I work with local clients, businesses, and customers making bespoke creations for their homes or buildings.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I think if you ask any artist, life in this passion and profession is never smooth. Sleepless nights, long days of setting up for shows or delivering work, and truly countless hours of computer work and social media posting don’t usually make the front page. Starting a business is nearly as difficult as running one, keeping up with contact via email or social media, managing projects, ordering materials, and keeping numbers straight are processes that involve making mistakes along the way. Accepting that you will mess up here or there and always keeping the big picture in mind has helped me immensely.
Wire By Ryan – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I am known best for making wire trees. Large, small, complex, simple, they all vary depending on what the client commissioned or what I wanted to make that day. Not that I don’t branch out and work in other mediums- such as hammered copper roses that involve soldering and different techniques or welding metal for indoor/outdoor art pieces or furniture. I will fully disclose that I am not the only artist that makes wire trees. I pride myself on trying to make them larger or more unique than most. Using massive stones as bases or creating thousands of tiny leaves among the wire branches keeps my work separate from others. The ability to work with a customer and do mostly commissioned work also sets me apart. Communicating one on one and creating something that’s one of a kind and exactly what the customer wants is a challenging yet fun problem to solve.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment of my career so far has probably been the most recent auction at the Newburyport Art Association. Being up on stage with my dad with my mom there supporting me helping to raise money for an amazing organization that has sculpted me into the artist I am today couldn’t be more rewarding. A bouquet of copper roses I made raised $2,000 for the NAA, a personal best in terms of dollars raised by one of my pieces at an auction. I find giving back to the community makes me proud as an artist, business owner, and person.
Pricing:
- Wire tress range from $150 to $1,500+
- Copper roses are $185 a piece
Contact Info:
- Website: www.wirebyryan.com
- Email: splitrock24_ryan@comcast.net
- Instagram: @wirebyryan
- Facebook: @wirebyryan
Image Credit:
Kam Mitchell Photography
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