Welcome to the Team!
Elizabeth Sarah Collections has grown a lot in the past year! From our production space buildout to opening our gallery in Jacksonville Beach, the glow up has been real.
With these changes comes new opportunity, and the affirmation that the possibilities for small business really are endless!
While we've always dreamed of having a gallery open to the public (& multiple employees to run it) in addition to our online shop, no one could've anticipated that we'd be opening one while still in the midst of a worldwide pandemic.
The team quickly realized that after a successful grand opening that if we put our minds and 150% effort into something, we can make it happen. However one small detail was missing, as all three of us realized was that we all can't be creating handmade jewelry and fine art from our Atlantic Beach studio, and be in the store at the same time with consistent hours of operation.
So without further ado, the Elizabeth Sarah Collections Gallery is open Monday - Saturday, no shopping appointments needed, plus a new face for you all to get to know and shop with!
For those of you who haven't been in the know recently, a quick reintroduction to our team is only appropriate, but we mainly are here to announce our newest team member, Kiley!
Elizabeth Walker is the owner and artist behind Elizabeth Sarah Collections, a handmade jewelry line & umbrella company for Philips art as well, based out of Northeast Florida. She has been making jewelry professionally for the past two decades, and founded Elizabeth Sarah Collections in 2006.
Selling her pieces made of semi-precious and precious gemstones, freshwater pearls, shark teeth, sea shells and more, Elizabeth is well known for her attention to detail in her hand wire wrapping technique that intricately compliments her designs. Recently she has accomplished a lifetime goal of designing a solid gold and diamond line known as the ESC Fine Collection, which I must say was an absolute hit and we can't wait for the next batch to drop!
Each necklace is inspired by Mother Nature, as Elizabeth (or Boo, as we call her) has lived among the sea, lake, and mountain regions from Florida to Illinois, to Wisconsin to Colorado.
Aside from being a badass boss lady, Elizabeth is known for her dance moves, spontaneous work "field trips", aka golf cart rides to lunch, and being one of the best friends anyone can ask for.
Elizabeth is married to Philip Bennett Walker, who, apart from being her business partner & overall team morale booster, is an artist. Philip began his professional independent artistic career in Aspen, CO in 2003, and has worked with Museumworks Galleries in Aspen and New York City and with Living Out Loud Galleries in Aspen and Atlanta, MAD Gallery NYC, FAME Miami, and Art Republic in Jacksonville. More recently he's known for his installation with the Haskell Gallery at the Jacksonville International Airport, and murals that span from Central to North Florida.
His unique style of painting is his own play on the subtraction technique, and involves layers and "striping out" the image to create his desired effect on canvas. His works can be seen in our gallery and at various locations for sale throughout Jacksonville.
My name is Ally & I've been working for Elizabeth and Philip since 2016 as assistant designer and online store manager. Since the Walker's have expanded their business, I have taken on roles such as creating blogs, helping Philip with murals, hosting pop up shows, and managing accounts. From learning the process of jewelry design, to managing inventory and invoices, and scaling scaffolding for a mural job, I love every aspect of this creative profession. I also may or may not be known for bringing a disco ball to a non-disco function and having any excuse to stop work and give the Walker's cat, Shelby, plenty of scratches.
When I say our team is tight, we are more like family that works together for over 40 hours a week, takes vacations together, and still wants to hang out in between. Sorry Kiley, you're stuck with us now!
Kiley is the newest Elizabeth Sarah Collections Gallery Retail Associate. You can catch her a few days a week here, or at her other job at Sunrise Surf Shop! Like Philip, she's from New Smyrna Beach and loves to surf. As hard working as she is, Kiley is also a Marketing student at UNF and designs her own clothing, too. All around, we love her style, enthusiasm for learning new things, and work ethic (and its only been one week!)
We are so excited to expand our team and thankful that this opportunity has presented itself to share our craft. Our goal is to make you feel welcome at our shop and also provide customers with knowledge and confidence in the product they’re purchasing, all with a friendly & familiar face.
With the upcoming holiday season we also want to emphasize our new store’s hours of operation and that while shopping appointments aren’t required, you can always make one if you’re unable to shop during store hours, as our team is more than happy to accommodate.
Speaking of the holidays, this is the perfect time to shop local and support small businesses as our products are created by our hands here in northeast Florida and isn’t sitting on cargo ships. With supply and demand unpredictable, you can always count on our quick response times and even priority shipping on all online orders.
Thats what you get when you choose to shop with a small business with the inner workings & goals of a big corporation!
Be sure to follow along for more updates and stay in the know with future blogs by following Philip Bennett Walker on social media:
Instagram: @philipbennettwalker
Facebook: Philip Bennett Walker
and Tik Tok: @philipbennettwalker
