Fayette Area Chamber of Commerce issued the following announcement on Aug. 14.
This month’s Fayette Area Chamber of Commerce Business of the Month is Jewels by Julia. Anytime there is an art festival, you can find Julia set up and offering her artwork, which ranges from jewelry, ceramics, and all sorts of multi-media treasures.
From her earliest memories, Julia knew that, above all, she wanted to help people. She decided that the best way she could do that was by becoming a nurse. “My first attempt at college was not successful, so I went back home and worked different jobs until I made up my mind to join the Navy. There, I became a hospital corpsman and served out my four years. I moved to New York City and got married. I worked as a home health aide until I had my first child. After we moved to South Florida, I used the GI Bill to go to nursing school. I worked as a registered nurse for over seventeen years, in spite of my chronic pain and fatigue.”
Julia later decided to return to school and enroll in some fun courses. “One of my first classes was ceramics and I was hooked! Working with clay expresses my identity. From the beginning, the process of transforming mud into vessels has struck me as magical and has translated my inner visions to outer manifestations of useful and/or beautiful objects. Now I am allowed the freedom to work on what I love and express myself in the way I want.” Julia’s flexible work schedule allows her to focus on her early life goals of helping people and giving back to the community.
As soon as Julia became aware of the need for facemasks due to COVID-19 concerns, she started making them. She worked with other members of the Sipsey Arts Alliance, Susan Newman, Reda West, Sherry Yerby and Anne Burkhalter to form an ongoing coalition to make masks. “We have made them out of medical cloth for our hospital, and Birmingham area hospitals, also. We have given masks to McDonalds, the ARC, the library, St. Michael's Episcopal Church, and area beauty salons. We have made over 2,000 in all, and I have made 1,200 myself. We are just finishing up masks for the Fayette County schools. I feel this is a way of passing on God's blessings and my mother's penchant for hoarding cloth and thread!”
Julia and her colleagues have provided masks to anyone who requests them. They have mailed them to various areas throughout our state and to Tennessee as well.
For more information about Jewels by Julia, the Sipsey Arts Alliance, or how to acquire face masks for yourself or your organization, contact Danny White at fayetteareachamber@gmail.com.
Congratulations Julia, and thank you for all you do for your community!
Original source can be found here.
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