Terry Brown always was a “Crickette.”
Crickette Brown Glad of Between the Cleavage.
When she was five years old, her parents asked her to change her name in order to distinguish herself from her sister, Sherry. “Changing my name opened the door for me to express myself,” she says.
Since then, Crickette has been expressing herself through her art. The medium changes depending on her fancy at the time. She started expressing herself through jewelry in 2002 and hasn’t stopped.
She started off making a few pieces for herself. As her friends expressed admiration, she started making pieces for them, too. Eventually, she was making so many pieces that her husband suggested that she start her own company. “You only have two arms and two ears,” he told her. She was making much more than she could wear herself.
And so Between the Cleavage was born.
When Crickette gets a design idea, she likes to get started immediately so that she doesn’t forget it. She runs downstairs to her design studio, anytime of night or day, opens up her bead collection of over 5000 items, and gets cracking.
Crickette has a gigantic collection of beads!
Color selection is usually the longest part of the process for Crickette; she likes things to come naturally. Once, while at a dinner party, she was struck by the colors of her napkin, a paper cup, and her dress. She left the party and, soon thereafter, a new original piece was born!
She has the good fortune of having a husband who travels a lot. She’s been all over the world and plans to do it again soon. Some of her favorite pieces come from overseas. She loves silver from Thailand and pearls from China. She once stopped in Shanghai during a cruise. She struck off on her own, despite not speaking any Chinese, and returned to the boat with $800 worth of beautiful pearls! She still uses pearls from that trip.
She’s also been to Egypt, where she once stopped at a small stall at a soukh in Cairo. She said that it was the smallest, dirtiest shop you could imagine, but once she was able to communicate what she wanted (she spoke no Arabic, and he, no English), he reached under the counter and pulled out a dirty bag that contained some 400-year-old Bedouin silver. What a find!
The artist at work.
As Crickette works, she likes to pull a bunch of colors that she likes and then just mix them like dough until it “looks right.” Then, she begins stringing beads — not in any particular order, but just intuitively, until they, too, “look right.”
She loves bright colors, and also loves pieces that feel substantial. In the fall, she likes to wear pieces with coral and bone in them, but always sticks to bright colors. She particularly loves creating “metamorphosis” necklaces: necklaces that can be worn with the pendant in the front, hanging off the back, or even worn off to the side — like a brooch and pendant in one! Olivia is in heaven just thinking about it!
Crickette wears a “metamorphosis” necklace.
If she could give up-and-coming designers one piece of advice, she’d tell them to hire a professional public relations representative. “You’re presenting yourself to the public. You need to look professional. And you can’t be good at everything,” she counsels.
Crickette has a personality as colorful as her designs! Be sure to check out her work at Between the Cleavage!
Brightly,
Olivia
