Kelley Ford Owen, a Michigan native, chose to name her brand BARRETT FORD in honor of her maternal and paternal grandparents. She can trace her family’s artistic heritage back to the 17th century. Their creative legacy continues today through Kelley’s jewelry designs, strongly influenced by her father, Rick Ford, a gifted painter.

Kelley holds a BA with a concentration in Studio Art and an MFA in Art History and has studied extensively throughout Italy. She started her career at Sotheby’s in New York and then Boston. She has great admiration for John Singer Sargent’s color palettes, Vermeer’s use of light and subtlety, Italian Renaissance painters Carravagio and Gentileschi, and for her two grandmothers, both of whom possessed an innate sense of style. Kelley tries to create this aesthetic in her jewelry.

Kelley resides in Chicago with her husband, three children, three rescue cats and Cavalier puppy, Gizmo.