Tracy Behrends is a jewelry designer, beadweaver and leatherworker from Minneapolis. She enjoys the demands of her multi-faceted career. “I love a good challenge!  Designing allows me the unique opportunity to combine my creative abilities and problem solving skills together into one profession. It’s challenging and invigorating to experiment with various colors, shapes, patterns, sizes, media, textures and weight to achieve the right combination of materials and visual balance that makes a new design come alive.” Her design label is 3Fine Design®.

Tracy earned a BA degree in International Relations from the University of Minnesota. She also studied graphic design at the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul and the School of Visual Arts in New York. In addition to jewelry design, her many interests include gardening, graphic design, typography, Egyptology, cosmology, Bible study, sports, Art Deco, music and traveling.  “Life’s an adventure filled with a cornucopia of information and interesting things to explore. I try to live each day with thankfulness in my heart for being blessed with another opportunity in which to partake of the beauty, challenges and joy associated with living, exploring, researching, learning, creating and growing."

She is an avid gardener. “I draw a lot of inspiration from nature and my garden.  During the growing season, I spend a lot of time preparing and tending my garden surrounded by gorgeous colorful flowers, climbing vines and various species of plants.  The vivid colors, tranquility and beauty that I find there are a constant source of inspiration for me.”

Because of its versatility, Tracy's preferred medium is leather, “It allows me a tremendous amount of flexibility and creative leeway. The sky’s the limit when it comes to the dying, staining and tooling processes. Leather isn’t very forgiving so I always have to be on my toes.  However, it’s such a pleasure to work with because it’s natural, beautiful and smells terrific.  I really enjoy the process of experimenting with leather in concert with other alternative media to find the most striking, unique and interesting combinations for every new design.”

Some of her favorite techniques include leather tooling, bead weaving and wire wrapping. “I have a fascination for working with intricate designs to include hand-stitched beadwork (bead embroidery and embellished right angle weave) and hand tooling leather. There’s a lot personal satisfaction obtained from the more time consuming pieces that I design and create. For me, the finished product isn’t the be all and end all.  I derive as much artistic fulfillment and personal satisfaction going through challenges of the creative process itself as I do gazing at the finished product.  For me, it’s what I learn and how I grow through the creative process that’s long lasting and truly satisfying.”

Tracy's new work for 2010 will include new designs for contemporary handcrafted leather stud earrings and rings.  “Several of the new jewelry pieces that I have in mind will be unisex pieces that both sexes can wear and enjoy. I’m really looking forward to it.  It’s always exciting to start contemplating fresh ideas for the upcoming New Year.”

Tracy has learned the importance of remaining focused. “As a designer, one needs to achieve balance and harmony between creative liberty and business acumen.  It takes time and patience to experiment, practice, explore, discover who you are as a designer, make any necessary changes and carefully define your business and product. Many design ideas come to me that have the potential to open up a plethora of possible directions that I could take.  As a result, refraining from dabbling too much and getting sidetracked can be a struggle. I constantly remind myself to remain focused, to refine my goals, business and designs in order to find my niche and develop a branded look that’s distinctively 3Fine Design®.”

She offers important tips for aspiring designers. “My advice would be to keep your heart and eyes open at all times because inspiration will come when you least expect it.  Keep a journal for your design ideas so when inspiration strikes you can jot them down and refer to your written notes later.  Journaling is a great way to keep track of your ideas, watch your progress and monitor your growth as a designer. Be true to yourself, be original, dare to be different, embrace challenges, learn from your mistakes, keep moving forward and enjoy the process.”

Tracy Behrends is a featured UsTrendy designer. View her portfolio and blogs at: http://www.ustrendy.com/3fine-design/