• ELIXHER
• On May 6, 2014

By Spoken Pandora

For those who care to go beyond using their lone bodies to indulge in their lover(s), the connection can be lost in one of the most beautiful moments of their relationship if they use devices that constantly have to be attended to during intimacy. And as many of us know, once the throes of passion are interrupted, it is hard to get back to that sensual moment. Enter Karam “Kree” Bey, custom harness designer.

Karam “Kree” Bey

Kree grew up in a world of leather designing and woodworking. In her youth, she became a lover of using a harness during intercourse. Unfortunately, they didn’t hold up to her usage and over time she found herself going through them…a lot. One day, she decided to use her creativity and handiwork for her sensual good and began making her own harnesses out of quality leather materials.

“I’ve been designing for 20 plus years,” she shares. “I made my first one around the age of 18 or 19. Once I made my first one, it was like Mary Kay before the Internet. The word spread and people began to ask me to make harnesses for them. Growing up in upstate New York, I began selling predominately in Toronto, Canada. After showing my harness to my best friend, I made her one and she had no problem showing it off to everyone. So people began inquiring about obtaining one of their own and, all of the sudden, I soon found myself able to pay for college and my school supplies.”

Kree’s harnesses became so popular because she made them from a place of simply expressing her creative flow and a need to create a natural extension of herself for the pleasure of her lover and comfort of her own body.

“You could tell that the harnesses, at the time, were manufactured, and had nothing to do with the comfort or shape of the woman wearing it,” Kree continues. “Who better to make a product than the person who is personally use it?”

Making harnesses was never a full-time job for Kree. She found just as much pleasure from using them as she did making them. Her process is a sensuous tango of its own that blends eroticism and creativity to create the ultimate work of art and, in turn, this same work of art is used to bring pleasure by adding to the connection shared between lovers.

The way she views what she does is quite possibly the key to her success: She has never seen what she does as a job or business entity. Instead, she holds it as a creative outlet that allows her to place pieces of her soul within each item. Ironically, if you search the Internet for her products you will not find flashy websites or advertisements exploiting her work.

“I feel like if I merge my creativity together with a business approach, then I would lose my love for it all,” she admits. “I find comfort in my close-knit circle. While I have a nice following of people, I’m not bombarded by requests which help to keep what I do enjoyable and manageable.”

Kree’s original harnesses were simply jet-black and had no style or individuality to them. However her current works would lead you to believe that she came from the womb designing. Looking on her Facebook page one will find exotic colors, intricate designs, and thought-provoking images.

“I always carved other items like belts, chokers, bracelets, etc. But it had never dawned on me to transfer this over to harnesses. Then one day I was looking at a leather set I had just made and a harness that I had previously made. All the pieces were in front of me and I started wandering how all the pieces would look as a complete set,” she says.

From that moment of creative enlightenment, Kree began to take her decades of work to a new level of imaginative craftsmanship and has been designing custom decorated harnesses ever since. One can see how Kree connects to her work in the designs of her pieces. Every curve, touch of color, and shape contains pieces of her artistic soul and she willingly gives of herself in the name of bringing pleasure to others.

Kree’s harnesses are made from raw cowhide, the natural and unbleached skin of a cow processed into leather. This type of leather is durable and provides a buttery-soft feeling making it the perfect material for the construction of harnesses. Kree’s harnesses are made ¼” thick, which one will find to be thicker than most manufactured harnesses (it aids in the comfort of the wearer). Kree takes time and care to pick the leathers and views them as a blank canvas that possess a world of possibilities. Driven by the thought of creating something better than the last, this artist doesn’t see the impossible when embarking on a new project, but rather the possibilities of what can be.

She offers these words of wisdom for all artists out there: “Get to know and be comfortable with yourself. When you find yourself mentally blocked, meditate and start from the basics. Don’t worry about the opinion of others but love and appreciate what you do for you.”

Truthfully, words cannot completely capture the beauty of Kree’s harnesses. To experience her masterful artistry for yourself or to commission her to create your next (and last) harness, connect with Kree on Facebook, by email strapped4pleasure@gmail.com, or phone 803-412-9163.

Spoken Pandora considers herself a gypsy that has traveled worlds through the literature she writes. Currently she resides in North Carolina with her daughter and partner. When she is not writing, she publicly speaks at LGBTQ events on sexual related topics. Her work can be found on her website.

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