By Haley Martin

A little boy squeals and smiles at his reflection in the mirror where he holds a metallic gold bowtie up to his shirt collar. To make sure he found his favorite, he rummages through the display one last time. The vibrant colors of the bowties pop against the rustic wood of the vintage coca-cola crates that hold them. Folk music plays through the speakers; saxophone and fiddle tunes softly fill the high vaulted ceilings. “I want this one mommy!” the boy says.

“Or you could have a nice jazzy one like this-wow!” says bowtie maker, Kelly Durian as she shows off another one of her creations, a fluorescent orange and polka-dotted bowtie.

Durian, who is hosting the sale in her Eugene living room, is as colorful as the bowties she creates. This morning she is wearing green pants, a denim jacket embellished with an orange daisy brooch, mismatched wool socks and dangly earrings shaped like chickens. A suede fedora rests on her pixie-short brown hair. Her glassy blue eyes light up as she giggles with the boy over his soon-to-be very own bow tie.

“I’ve always wanted one just like daddy’s!” the boy says.

“We’ll take it,” his mom tells Durian, handing her $15 and walking away with her elated son.

Like most indecisive 20-somethings, Durian, 24, spent several years pondering what she should do with her life. She’s been an art student in Italy, a wilderness therapy guide and a full-fledged wanderer, but, she has finally realized that in order to be happy, she needs to create art. Now a modern day haberdasher with a specialty in bowties, Durian has found what makes her tick.

Durian founded her bowtie business, Durian and the Lyon, in September of 2010. She had always enjoyed crafting and sewing, but after seeing a friend’s band perform while outfitted in bowties, she was inspired to make some of her own. Her business has flourished ever since. She has created an impressive array of bowties in every color and for any occasion. Durian now sells her bowties online, at the Eugene Saturday Market, and various craft fairs throughout the Northwest.

Anna Bird, who bought a bowtie headband from Durian’s Saturday Market booth said, “It’s just the right combination of girly and spunky. I’m happy to support a local artist.”

It wasn’t clear to her at the time, but art and self-expression have been calling Durian for years. During her junior year of college, Durian studied abroad in Cortona, Italy.  Thinking the trip would give her a reason to escape, she realized that running away wasn’t the answer to her problems. “I wanted to feel free, but instead I felt sad. I was so homesick.” While in Italy, Durian studied art and bookmaking. To distract herself from the uneasiness she felt while abroad, she became consumed by her studies. “I got really into my art because it made me feel better,” she says.

After graduating from University of Richmond where she studied art and art history, most of Durian’s classmates jumped right into their lifelong careers at various business firms. “I didn’t want that, but I didn’t know what else there was. I really had no clue,” she says. Instead of following the same guidelines as her classmates, she decided, “Im going to go find it.”

From there, Durian took to the road for the next year. “I just got in my car and drove wherever I wanted. It was so freeing,” she says. “I had total control of myself and my decisions.” That was the beginning of what she calls her “freedom stage” which has continued ever since. “Once you’re allowed to make your own decisions, you have to figure out what they actually are. That’s what it was about for me,” she says.

A few years later, Durian became a wilderness therapy specialist where she worked with at-risk adolescents. Working in wilderness therapy had taken a toll on her; she was ready for a change. “I think being an artist, I got a little over emotional and over invested. I was taking on all this pain and I felt sad all the time,” she says.. To take her mind off the heaviness from her job, Durian made dream catchers with tree bark and other materials she found in the forest. She eventually quit this job in order to devote her time and attention to her new bowtie business.

Looking back, Durian realizes that during all of these periods in her life, she ended up turning to art to make her feel better. “All I know is when I’m not doing creative things or working with my hands, I’m just generally not happy,” she says.

Durian has discovered that making bowties is the perfect way for her to fulfill her creativity. “I have a sense of myself and the kind of life I want to live now,” Duiran says. She has finally reached a place in her life where she is truly happy and doesn’t feel the need to keep on searching. “If I think about it too much, it feels a little silly and I don’t know how I’m going to make a living or how it’s all going to work, but if I just keep doing it, it keeps working out,” she says.