Jewelry that rocks

Jewelry that rocks
Photos by Michelle Valberg
Graphic designer LINDA REA-ROSSEKER/Leader-Post
By IRENE SEIBERLING
Leader-Post
Karen McClintock didn’t set out to become a jewelry designer.
In fact, no one could be more surprised by her success than McClintock herself. “I still can’t believe this is happening,” the 43- year-old Ottawa-based designer said repeatedly during the week we shared in Paris recently with Canadian fashion icon Linda Lundstrom.
“How did I get here? It’s surreal,” she said, her utter amazement — and delight — evident.
Things just seem to keep falling into place for McClintock, who has quickly become known as one of Canada’s hottest up-and-coming jewelry designers.
It all started about two years ago — as a bit of a fluke, actually. While getting ready for a garage sale, McClintock came across an old necklace, which she was convinced she could “improve”.
“I knew nothing (about making jewelry),” she admitted.
So she headed over to the craft department at her local Wal-Mart and picked up what she thought she’d need to re-string a few necklaces for the garage sale.
They sold like hot-cakes. And she was hooked.
At first, McClintock used stretchy string — at the recommendation of a shopper in the department
store’s crafts section — and beads.
“What did I know? I had no idea what I needed. This was all new to me,” she said.
After a bit of kidding about the stretchy string, a friend with experience in the jewelry business steered McClintock in a more professional direction — using wire and crimp beads. McClintock started using sterling silver, semi-precious stones, Swarovski crystals and antique silver coins to create hand-crafted necklaces, bracelets and earrings.
Her necklaces range in price from $200 to $400. Impressed with McClintock’s natural talent for combining colours and textures to create jewelry that makes a statement, her friend encouraged her to pursue her new “hobby”. The timing was perfect.
A divorced mother of two, McClintock was now married to a Cambridge, Ont. businessman, also with two children. Their “complicated” living arrangement — commuting between their two homes (hers in Ottawa and his in Cambridge), and their vacation home in Florida — made it impossible for her to commit to a 9-to-5 job. But she wanted to work. “It was more for my self-esteem,” said McClintock, who gave up a successful career running a consignment shop to raise their blended family. So she decided to re-invent herself, and create a job that would work with her current circumstances. “There was no intention to start a business,” she said frankly. But one thing just kept leading to another. And in no time at all, her creations were being showcased in six of the nine Holt Renfrew locations. (Her designs aren’t in Holt Renfrew’s Toronto Bloor Street location, Vancouver or Montreal — yet.)
Marlene Shepherd, co-owner of an upscale ladies’ clothing and accessories boutique in Ottawa, also carries McClintock’s collection (www.shepherdsfashions.com). “She has a good sense of colour and a good sense of balance,” Shepherd said in a telephone interview from Shepherd’s Fashion and Accessories. “She takes direction well and criticism well. She’s not too proud or too snobbish to accept some ideas. That’s a wonderful thing about her — you can work with her, and give her suggestions,” Shepherd said. “Combine her creativity with my (30 years of) experience, and we are able to come up with something that we are both happy with.”
Shepherd praised the new designer’s versatility. “Everybody has their status handbag — the Prada or the Gucci. Her necklace is sort of along the same line — the status necklace that you can wear for a couple of seasons,” Shepherd said. “It’s the necklace of the season, and you wear it with lots of different things, depending on how you combine it. She even has some that have detachable pendants.”
That sentiment was echoed by Kate Chartrand of Holt Renfrew. “Her work has the potential to evolve and stay fresh with every season, which is what will keep our customers coming back for more,” she explained. “Karen takes elements of bohemian trends and develops them into more tailored and sophisticated designs that really resonate with our clientele and offer them longevity,” Chartrand said. Not having any formal training in jewelry design seems to have worked in McClintock’s favor.
“I absorb everything. I’m like a human sponge — I suck up ideas and direction,” the tenacious former competitive athlete said. No one could ever accuse McClintock of lacking determination.
While in Paris recently, she got pointers on production from veteran fashion designer Linda Lundstrom, who introduced McClintock to Miles Socha, Paris bureau chief for Women’s Wear Daily. When McClintock mentioned she was hoping to get her designs into the U.S. market, Socha arranged a meeting with his friend, Mindy Prugnaud, a fashion merchandising specialist for Saks. “I’m excited,” Prugnaud said as she viewed samples of McClintock’s collection in the lounge of the Paris hotel where McClintock was staying. Conveniently, the hotel was located in the fashionable residential area where Prugnaud lives. McClintock was asked to supply photos, within days, which Prugnaud said she would include in a booklet she’d put together to pitch the collection to Saks. “How amazing is this,” McClintock said, beaming after the meeting.
The incredibly rapid rise of her career still has McClintock pinching herself, wondering if this is really
a dream. “If it comes gradually, you work into it,” she said. “When it comes fast, you keep questioning ‘when is it going to stop?” No time soon, if demand for her designs continue at the current rate.
When described as a successful Canadian jewelry designer, McClintock smiles. “I still can’t believe people actually call me that.” “I really have no idea where this is going to go, but I am enjoying the journey,” she said.
For more information about Karen’s
designs, go to www.KarenMcClintock.com

A Rare Find

ONE OF CANADA’S HOTTEST JEWELRY DESIGNERS CALLS OTTAWA HOME

Karen McClintock has a unique way of seeing the world. A beach scene conjures up blue quartz, mother of pearl and larimar semiprecious stones. When she studies a sepia-toned photograph,
she sees moss opal, abalone and fresh water pearls.
Written By Nadine St-Jacques 

Photography by Darren Brown

For Karen, these stones are the tools of her trade. The energetic blonde surrounds herself with tray after tray of gems in every colour of the rainbow as she crafts dazzling jewelry designs in her second floor workspace. Known as one of Canada’s hottest up-and coming jewelry designers, the Ottawa native’s blossoming career is going places she never expected. Her necklaces, earrings and bracelets can be found exclusively in the capital region at Shepherd’s and Holt Renfrew. Sitting at her glass kitchen table in her Greely home, the ever-stylish blonde – who, of course, is wearing one of her signature pieces made of semi-precious stones and an ancient silver coin – says she still can’t believe the meteoric rise of her career. Surprisingly enough, it all began after
a quick trip to her local Wal-Mart less than two years ago. With her stepdaughter in tow, she went to the discount department store to find materials to re-string a few necklaces
for a garage sale. A few days later, Karen showed her creations to a friend with experience in the jewelry business. Although the friend kidded her about using stretchy string instead of wire, she was impressed by McClintock’s natural talent for pulling colours together and encouraged her to pursue her new hobby. At the time, something deep inside Karen started to simmer. Could jewelry designing be exactly what she needed to complement her busy lifestyle?

A divorced mother of two, she married Jim McClintock, a businessman and champion
water-skier in 2003. Between them, they have four kids ages 11, 13, 14 and 15, which also means a complicated living arrangement. Karen’s two kids go to school in Ottawa, while Jim’s children and business are in Cambridge.As a result, Karen regularly commutes between the couple’s two homes, as well as their vacation home in Florida. This arrangement also means holding a 9-to-5 job is virtually impossible. “I’m only in the city every second week and we travel every week, so I was kind of feeling like, what am I going to do?” says the former athlete with a master’s degree in sports psychology. “I can’t just clean house and shop because that’s not me.” Consequently, McClintock made up her mind and decided she would try her hand at jewelry designing. The result was an instant following. “I sold my first piece in a week right off my neck at a water-ski tournament,” says Karen with a laugh. From that moment on, the Ottawa native’s
career as a designer took off. She attributes her success to her “take the bulls by the horn” approach to life and a conscious decision to aim high. In August 2005, only two months after making her first piece, she picked up the phone and called Marlene Shepherd, owner of Shepherd’s, a high-end clothing store in the Rideau Centre, and asked if she could bring in a few of her designs. Inspired by nature scenes and colour combinations in pictures and photographs, Karen creates hand-crafted necklaces, bracelets and earrings made of carefully selected semi-precious stones and Swarovski crystals. Karen’s signature trademark is her use of chunky stones, as well as antique silver coins that her Toronto Queen Street supplier finds for her in
exotic locales.
Marlene says she knew Karen’s jewelry was what they were looking for. “I could see that she really had a talent for pulling together beautiful colour combinations,” she says.“I knew right away there was somebody that I thought had talent.” From then on, Marlene took the new designer under her wing – support Karen is extremely grateful to have. “She was wonderful because she gave me an opportunity. She’s definitely been my mentor,” she says. It is obvious that in Karen’s short career as a designer, her tenaciousness and positive attitude have paid off.Today, her pieces are also sold at six
of Holt Renfrew’s 12 locations across Canada. And for good reason – they are beautiful, versatile and customers can’t seem to get enough of them. “Jewelry is an emotional purchase and from my experience, I knew women would feel drawn to her pieces,” says Elena Lowenthal, associate buyer for fashion jewelry at Holt Renfrew. “Karen’s work has the potential to evolve and stay fresh with every season, which is what will keep our customers coming back for new additions to their collections.” Michelle Valberg, a good friend of Karen’s and well-known Ottawa photographer, says she believes the secret to Karen’s success is her ability to stay focused. “She works from her intuition
and creativity,” says Michelle. “She didn’t follow a lot of the baby steps that I think people get lost and caught up in.” Karen attributes the level of success she’s acquired in such a short time span to her varied background. For six years, she was the technical
director of Water Ski Canada before turning around a failing consignment shop called Déjà New in Orléans. Although many would say her life has changed drastically since then, it’s obvious her first priority is always her family. “I think she could take it to greater heights than she is now,” says Marlene. “I’ve told her she could easily go to Bergdorf Goodman, but I don’t think that’s what she wants right now. I think she’s keeping it at a certain level, to balance out her lifestyle.” Karen, who still drives her kids to school in
Blackburn Hamlet and karate classes in Orléans each day, explains she’s content with
her life at the moment. Although she admits her goal is to sell her pieces at all 12 Holt
Renfrew locations, she’s ecstatic and humbled by her achievements. For now, she’s simply taking it one day at a time. ‘This whole business has been this unbelievable
karma,” says Karen with a gleam in her eyes. “I’ve gone from walking into Wal-
Mart not knowing what I’m doing to actually walking through the door of Holt Renfrew. I
hadn’t even been doing it a year and they take me on, they launch me as this successful Canadian designer. I still can’t even believe people actually call me that.”
For more information about Karen’s
designs, go to www.KarenMcClintock.com