Iela sells ‘mobile art’

I have been to many artist/­artisan’s shows and to other events where they sell their items, and I must say this little island is brimming with some of the most imaginative and creative people on planet earth. Their handmade products can ­compete with those produced in other countries, hands down.

At these shows, I have seen a range of quality, from the ordinary to the extraordinary/exquisite. Those made by Iela’s Sandals and Accessories easily fall within the exquisite category. Every time I see their products I just gawk, and eventually I am going to get my custom-made piece.

Their items are mainly handbags, neck and waist pieces, wristlets/cuffs, clutch purses and footwear for women. But, should a man want an item, they will readily get on to the job. When I chanced upon her and her daughter, Ahbehoh, at the recent Health Home and Garden Expo at the National Arena, there were a knapsack and other items made of camouflage material that take the ordinary away from men’s accessories.

The business is the brainchild of the woman born Lela Rose Williams, and the items are made mainly of leather, canvas, burlap, and “any type of fabric that is appealing to the eyes”, combined with other natural material such as wood, bamboo, coconut shell, calabash, and seeds, – ‘horse eye’, ‘maccafat’, ‘lucky’, ‘nicker’, ‘cacoon’, ‘elephant ear’, ‘Job tears’, etc.

No two items are an exact replica of the other, as each is made from a different inspiration at a different time, those exuding its own essence. “I never do that,” Williams said about replicating, “Is like a burden.” If a potential customer wants something similar to what she already has, she will acquiesce, but with a twist as each piece requires a different inspiration; and if she is not feeling it, she is not doing it.

Each item is expected to market itself; it should be a stand-out. Every piece sold, she said, should inspire someone to go to her to get a piece, and that’s why we “go hard”, she said, “and are constantly on the job”. She described her pieces “as mobile art”, not hanging from a wall or sitting on a shelf, but things that serve a utility purpose, to go around with.

The processes to create them involve acquiring the materials, measuring and cutting, carving, piercing, sanding, joining, polishing, varnishing, hand-stitching, crocheting, etc. It is really much work and imagination that they have to put in to make the items as engaging and eye-catching as they are. “My best work comes from using herbs and meditation,” she revealed.

Yet, Williams said she had received no formal training for what she is doing now. She could crotchet, had art classes in secondary school, a younger sister taught her tie-and-dye, and that was it. Twenty years ago, when she made a certain lifestyle and spiritual change, the ideas started to flow and she combined her skills with that of her partner, and that ­combination has evolved in a family-operated business.

As with many other artisans, Williams faces challenges, such as slow sales at times, and people who do not want to pay the prices she is asking for. But, the creativity is not slowing down. She is grooming her daughter, who is also bitten by the artistic bug, and she would love to land on to the European tourist market, as she believes they are more inclined than Americans to buy ­artistic accessories, and her pieces are really beyond the ordinary.