Jewelry Design and Photos by: Maryellen Kim of Twist Style

Every artist has a story, and Maryellen Kim of Twist Style tells hers through color, texture, and heart. Her pieces feel grounded in nature and full of meaning, reflecting her belief that creativity isn’t about perfection, it’s about showing up, experimenting, and finding joy in the process!

Join us as we explore how Maryellen has built a life around creativity, connection, and courage, and the lessons she has learned as an artist, teacher, and maker.

Please tell us a little about yourself!

Maryellen: Hello! Thank you for reaching out. I love all the Nunn Design products and it is such a pleasure to use these striking findings in my work. I feel like your work, elevates my work, and to me there’s nothing better!

I grew up in rural North Carolina. Our home was bordered on three sides by the Croatan National Forest, so when I say that “nature inspires my work,” what I really mean is that growing up running through a pine forest with bare feet and drinking out of streams really is the core memory that feeds all of my work.

It wasn’t easy growing up out there, we didn’t have much, but I was always a maker: forts from broken branches, dandelion crowns, leaf rubbings. That’s all we had to work with! We (my siblings and I) even made our own paint out of the orange clay we would dig up.

How did your creative journey begin? Have you always known you wanted to work with your hands and make art?

Maryellen: I started out as a newspaper reporter, and while I love writing, the need to create whimsy and charm was not being fulfilled by writing stories about school board meetings! When I became a mom and had more time at home, art became a way to create something lasting in days where my work was constantly undone – laundry and dishes just keep appearing!

But a watercolor painting is proof of productivity, of peace, of a creative mind that exists inside the woman chasing toddlers. I had always been a maker, but during this time my art really helped me keep sight of myself as a true artist.

I see you’re a jewelry designer, illustrator, and author – how do these creative paths overlap or influence one another?

Maryellen: Having multiple creative paths feels very natural to me. This is my life! Creativity isn’t just the jewelry and paintings I make; it is the flowers on my table, the layers of linens on the beds, in my clothes and on my face. It’s all about color and texture, words and feelings. Being immersed in those aspects of life means that I flow smoothly from one medium to another and that I am always dipping into the creative well in some way. I think that since the ideas all originate from one place, my heart, and that there is a specific color palette that means a lot to me, there is a cohesiveness that runs through what I make. At least I hope there is!

Can you describe your process from inspiration to finished piece? What tends to spark your ideas?

Maryellen: Ideas! So many ideas! I have tried at times to condense my collection of jewelry to a color story or certain style, but then I feel stifled. Let all the ideas out! Having an open heart, being a noticer, being OUTSIDE, going slowly sometimes – this is where I start. And then the spark will come from the pattern of a leaf, or the way the rocks pile up by the water and create hundreds of shades of blue.

From this inspiration, this thing that I notice, I then head to the studio and look for ways to recreate it with my materials. I mix colors of pigment or paint, then sift through the bins of beads for the right shades and shapes to share what I have seen. Usually, I end up with a jewelry interpretation or painting of what I have seen, what has moved me – but sometimes, I don’t. And that’s okay. I think it’s...

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