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COLUMBIA — An artist, a businessman, a teacher and a jeweler — Kenneth Greene plays many roles.
“I’m playing the whole time,” he said from behind the cluttered jeweler’s bench in his store, Monarch Jewelry, 1019 E. Walnut St.
- Shelly Chirillo, Sarah Francis, Michael McDonald and Bonnie Darby, all members of the Kindred Moon Paranormal Society, watch the end of the Katy Trail for paranormal activity.
- Michael McDonald consults a piece of equipment meant to measure paranormal activity during an investigation with the Kindred Moon Paranormal Society along the Katy Trail on Sep. 12.
- While waiting in the gym lobby Mandy Schick calls a client who is running late on Thursday. Schick's schedule as a personal trainer is largely determined by the needs of her clients. She works 40 hours in a typical work week. "I always have my watch on," Schick says.
- Mandy Schick, a personal trainer of three years, watches her client, Andrew Bach do reps in the gym. Schick says she never wanted an office job and prefers to teach individuals about fitness. "I like building those relationships," she says. "When you are done training people they are very sincere about thanking you, and they really honestly feel like they got something out of it."
- Kenneth Greene restores a ring for one of his customers on Aug. 3.
- Kenneth Greene has had a presence in downtown Columbia since the late 1970s. After a few moves, he now has a store on Walnut Street near Tenth Street.
- In addition to restoration work like this, Kenneth Greene also makes custom pieces at Monarch Jewelry.
- SLIDESHOWS: Learn more about the engaging people who live in and around Boone County.
He’s been making jewelry for decades and has had a presence in town since 1979. He creates custom pieces and restores jewelry for customers.
“When I really get going creatively is when I start making things for the case. And that’s when I try to remember what really sold,” he said. Equating selling jewelry to fishing, he said his most popular pieces have been “bass lures,” shiny metal earrings that draw people in. It helps, he said, if these pieces are red or blue.
For Greene, making the decision between red and blue — or left and right, or mid-ground and foreground — is what constitutes creativity.
“Most people try to make more of it than it is. It’s just doing something,” he said. “Art is about making decisions. That’s creativity. It’s not rocket science.”
He also teaches an introductory art class and jewelry-making at William Woods University in Fulton, where he’s served as an adjunct professor since 1989. He said teaching is like walnut farming.
“Your crop doesn’t come in for about 25 years, but you’ve got to have the patience and the faith that it’s going to happen,” he said. “Here I am, practicing stuff I was taught 20 years ago.”
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