Rhônya Holman grew up in Belo Horizonte, the capitol of the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Formed by colonists that searched for gold, gems, and diamonds, Minas Gerais was relatively isolated from European influence, which added to the huge influx of gold and other valuable minerals in the area and helped the local people to develop their own style of art. Just as her hometown did back in the 18th century, Rhônya has found her own artistic style as a way to express what she believes through jewelry design with the utmost respect for quality and personal attention.
Rhônya founded Bella Bohemian in 2005 in her New York apartment as a hobby during which time she was also working as a hostess at trendy parties in Manhattan and the Hamptons where she was surrounded by beauty, fashion and amazing people whom she met in fabulous places.
Her adventure began with a small class in bead work, which she was excited about because it’s fun and the colors of the beads mixed all together completely fascinated her. “In my opinion, colors make people smile and helps lift spirits, making you warm, happy and beautiful.” And as the passion for creating jewelry kept growing, and as she started making a few gorgeous pieces for herself, people started to ask where she got this jewelry? “I was proud to be able to say that I had made them.”
And then the orders started coming in like crazy and she saw herself working double in parties and making jewelry. Now she was placing orders for more materials, visiting the bead stores, making sure the orders were delivered on time, setting up appointments with clients, etc. Word of mouth spread quickly because her jewelry is a unique, one-of- a-kind style, with fine creativity and interesting details in each of the pieces. “Especially during these trendy parties, working as a hostess, many times I felt so sleepy that I began to realize that it was time to focus on designing jewelry full-time.” Most of her inspirations came from people and places she observed in her everyday life. That includes being aware of, e.g. while traveling, what other women and men were wearing and buying, and paying special attention to cultures and trends in this environment. All of this helped in her creative process.
“I create pieces based on what I see in my various surroundings.” Bella Bohemian jewelry is handmade with extraordinary attention to detail and hand-selected, high quality materials. “As a designer nothing makes me more happy than to see someone wearing my jewelry. It’s such an honor that someone loves a piece that I made! I want the jewelry I design to be beautiful, bold, vogue and colorful with huge varieties, for each person...”
“One of my clients commented to me that my jewelry never looks the same twice. I took it as a compliment because I’m able to create pieces for people out of all different walks of life, because we are all different people.”
After many more months of hard work, she built her website and started to participate in trunk shows and other fashion and designer events. Today Bella Bohemian is a symbol of elegance, quality and most importantly, individuality.
Rhônya’s designs, a complete collection of brilliant, bright, exotic, full-of-life line of jewelry, convey a sense of free spirit and can be worn by anyone to accentuate their style from bohemian chic to Bossa Bova elegance to high fashion at any occasion.
Welcome to Bella Bohemian by Rhônya Holman.