About

Sissy Caldwell was born and raised in the hills of East Tennessee, with the mists of the ancient Smoky Mountains swirling around her.  She considers herself blessed to live in a place that reminds her on a daily basis of the majesty of God’s presence in our lives—the magnificence of the mountains…the peacefulness of the rivers and lakes...the brilliant colors of the seasons…the profusion of flowers and plants ... the chirping birds and frisky critters …and the kind, gentle faces of the people that live here.

Shortly after Sissy retired as an executive from the Tennessee Valley Authority in 2004, a bead shop opened up down the street where she discovered millions of exquisite seed beads that you could stitch into beautiful pieces of jewelry. Having stitched all her life, starting with doll clothes at six years old and advancing to all types of sewing, embroidery, quilting, crocheting, and knitting, stitching beads was a logical next step. She began taking classes in off-loom bead weaving, stitching those tiny little Czech and Japanese seed beads and crystals one bead at a time into necklaces, bracelets and earrings. Her love of learning led her to experiment with a wide variety of off-loom bead weaving techniques—Cellini, Dutch and Russian spiral, herringbone, peyote, right-angle weave, brick stitch, square stitch, bead embroidery, and more.  Sissy enjoys learning new techniques that allow her to meet the challenge of fashioning countless designs inspired by living amidst the beauty of East Tennessee.  Her artistic signature is off-loom bead weaving that incorporates precious metal clay, glass, natural items, enameling, and other techniques into one-of-a-kind pieces that reflect the beauty of God’s abundant love.

Sissy is a juried member of the Art Market Gallery in downtown Knoxville, TN; the Foothills Craft Guild in Knoxville, TN; and the Townsend Artisan Guild in Townsend, TN.  She is also a certified Precious Metal Clay Artisan & Instructor.  

Contact by e-mail:  Featherbellsfj@aol.com