I can’t take credit for that title – that’s all Kaley Aldridge. It’s what she makes with her creative business, Moonebird. It is scary and brave to walk away from the security of a job that doesn’t make you happy to follow your passions – and that’s exactly what the creative mind behind Moonebird did.
Twenty-seven-year-old Kaley Aldridge is from St. Augustine originally. After college, she and her husband Russell, a Lakeland native, moved back. That was about five years ago. Though Kaley describes herself as a bit of an introvert, she always seemed to find a job in sales — which she didn’t exactly love. “I’ve always been an artist so I wanted to try to delve into that somehow. For me, jewelry making was something that I did on the side,” said Aldridge.
She knew if she was ever going to quit working in sales, there was no time to act, like the present. In January of this year, she made the nerve-wracking decision to quit her job, finding encouragement in her husband and in the fact that Lakeland seemed like a community conducive to small business. “I got tired of working jobs I hated,” she said. “I wanted to do something creative and fun.”
She now works part-time at a jewelry design studio downtown and making magic with her small business, Moonebird. The name was inspired in part by her love of birdwatching and by the family name of her Great Great Grandma Mooney who Kaley described as a badass. She too was a female business owner, running a bar in Rome, Georgia during a time when female entrepreneurship wasn’t so supported.
Moonebird started off selling prints and jewelry. It evolved into more jewelry and continues to evolve based on Kaley’s interests and what her customers gravitate towards. More recently, Kaley has delved into pottery which she’ll have available for sale at the Holiday Haus Mrkt on Dec. 13 at Haus 820. She doesn’t see many creators in the area making ceramics, so she would like to bring them to the table – quite literally – in the form of pieces that people can be inspired by and find use in. “There’s nothing better than a special mug or a plate that you use every night because you love it,” she said.
CREATIVE PROCESS
“I’ve always been inspired by nature,” said Aldridge. She half-joked that her aesthetic is suited best to picking something up and rubbing the dirt off of it to use. She enjoys the earthy tones and textures of natural gemstones, shells, pearls, and botanicals.
Moonebird jewelry tends to be minimalistic and powerful in style – full of good vibrations that you can’t help but feel that Kaley has put a little piece of herself into each item she creates. She makes brilliant use of natural beauty, including asymmetry in some pieces.
Kaley’s creative approach to her art is much like that which inspires her – natural. “The creation process is me sitting with all the beads I have and adding one, subtracting one, until I like the design of it,” she said. Depending on how inspired she feels, a design could take her anywhere from ten seconds to an hour to get just right.
To make her Botanical Essence Necklaces, Kaley collects flowers, wildflowers, and roses that have already fallen (she may or may not trespass to pick up a pretty flower or two). She takes them home and dries them out on a window screen for a few weeks until they’ve dried out completely. She makes a “ floral confetti” out of them and casts that in resin to live a second life as a special piece of jewelry for someone.
Her crystal statement necklaces or “Warrior Necklaces” she described as power pieces. She uses natural elements like Labradorite, Halite, shell, Quartz, Pyrite, and Natural Moonstone – looking for color palettes that complement each other.
INSPIRATION AND SUPPORT
It isn’t just nature that inspires Aldridge, it’s the abounding creativity of the people she surrounds herself with. “I have some really creative friends. It’s good to have people that you can sit with, in silence, and create,” she said, naming Chad Loving of Loving Studios and WNDER Co photographer and fellow jewelry maker, Brea Marie. She is also inspired by makers she meets at markets like Lyndsey Venrick of Pin + Needle as well as Evan Neidich of Fox & Crow Paper Co. “Finding a little artistic community that you can exist with and create with is really fun,” she said.
And of course, she couldn’t do it without her adorable pups – pit mix, Luna and boxer rescue, Kawaii. Her number one fan throughout her Moonebird journey has been her husband, Russell. Any idea that Kaley thinks might be crazy or out-of-the-box, Russell is there to root her on. “He’s pretty great,” she smiled. “I’ll keep him.”
MOONEBIRD ASCENDING
Her first year with Moonebird has been a fulfilling one says, Aldridge. “I like the freedom,” she said. “I like the space and freedom to create.” She remembers the first time someone purchased one of her pieces at a market, thinking, “That’s so wild that someone would spend their hard-earned money on something that I made and I love. That was inspiring to me.”
That creative momentum and freedom that Moonebird has allowed Aldridge is a big part of the reason she is going back to school in January to study Marine Biology. Aldridge has been interested in the subject since she was young. She said, “You know when you grow up and sometimes forget what you always wanted to do?” Though life had taken her elsewhere, Kaley is course correcting toward her dreams in art and academics.
Aside from her academic pursuits, Aldridge is an avid birdwatcher and artist of many mediums. She enjoys painting, poetry, ceramics, jewelry-making, and anything else that intrigues her.
You can find her “tiny pieces of tangible magic” on Instagram, Facebook, Etsy and the many markets she attends. Follow Moonebird on social media to find out where she will be next!
Moonebird
FB @shopmoonebird
IG @moonebird
Photos by Amy Sexson
