Gosh, I don't ever recall not loving Jewelry, but the 'appreciation' for the workmanship happened at a very young age where my oldest sister (she's 12-years older than me) took a picture of me rifling through my Grandmother's Jewelry chest (I was 3 years old at the time)! My Grandmother was this diminutive (under 5') lady who wore these big-a@@ pieces for her size and that was one of the things I most loved about her. She was passionate about Jewelry and also, passionate about "different" kinds of Jewelry .. not your "standard" stuff.
When I was 14, I decided that given my deep-rooted love for Jewelry, I had to learn how to make it! I was lucky enough to find a Jeweler in a neighboring town who agreed to "teach" me the basics (he worked in Silver). Let me tell you, it gave me a great appreciation for the art form (and yes, I do believe it is an art form)! It IS NOT an easy art form at all; forging, hammering, dapping, sawing using the Jeweler's saw, etc. made me appreciate why good jewelry cost what it did. I admit, I have never been a huge fan of the 'regular' brands (e.g., Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, etc.) - although I do have the Love Bracelet and a Juste un Clou (husband got them for me - but I rarely wear them). When I was 16, I decided to get more serious about my Jewelry making and signed up for a class at YMCA (yes - believe it or not) in a neighboring town. How lucky was I that a friend of my mothers had taken up the "hobby" years before and as such, she started me out with quite a stash of tools .. files, hammers, solder, you-name-it .. although, it took me a few years to realize how truly lucky I was. So, the deal was that for these tools, I would make her something .. which I did, BUT .. I quickly realized that my taste in Jewelry was waaaaaaay different than most folks .. I really took more of a sculptural view of Jewelry as opposed to making "delicate" jewelry!
While I would have loved to pursue a pure-Arts degree (majoring in Metalsmithing/Jewelry), my parents actually forbid it (they said "we will not support a starving Artist - gee, thanks for the vote of confidence Mom & Dad) .. so, off I went to study Business and Computers. For years, doing that work in the Financial sector afforded me 1 thing .. the $$$ to continue to pursue my love of the craft but finding the right courses was tough. My move to Boston was the key .. that opened SO many doors for me. In the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) in Boston, my professor was a hard-core Metalsmith and Jewelry-maker who was tough .. she expected that the back of the piece would look as good as the front (in other words, if she could see the solder or see the connection line, or if your rivets were sloppy, etc.) .. you for sure heard about it and she would grade you accordingly. It gave me a great appreciation for quality, and oftentimes when I would go to a show, if I could see the solder or connection lines, etc. - then I would not buy the piece! Worse was when at a Retail Store looking at the Jewelry and the Sales Associate didn't know a thing about the technique (many times the "Artist" didn't either - which immediately proved to me that they didn't make it themselves) or the gemstones that were used. Needless to say, I was and remain to this day to be a VERY FUSSY Jewelry client!
It took many years for me to finally get back into the swing of things, pretty much after I got laid off from Financial Services in 2016 .. I thought "oh, what the hell - I've always wanted to do my Jewelry, so here we go"! Now, ironically enough, I originally HATED (yes - hated) Diamonds; they were just not interesting to me. But, after taking the GIA Diamonds course? .. well, let me say that I then had a 360-degree turn and to this day, it is the only gemstone that I use. The difference is that I oftentimes do not buy the White or VS, etc. gemstones, preferring to buy those with unique cuts or colors .. but always making sure that the color is natural, not irridated! While I learned most of my craft at the Jewelers bench (primarily forging), I have recently taken a Wax Carving/Casting class and WHOA MOMMA .. talk about a new technique that I see myself using A LOT!!! Compared to forging, the Wax Carving/Casting is simple-pimple, and allows you to create more hefty pieces with unique textures (you can do that with hammers, files, but it takes a LOT longer).
So, given that I'm "too experienced" for the Job Market (translation: they don't want to pay a Woman top dollar for their knowledge & experience), I've pretty much been doing my Jewelry full-time. The plan is to continue making the pieces MYSELF and hook up with various Boutiques/Galleries here in the LA area. I have no plan to do a "retail line" per se; that would be so boring to me as each of my pieces is 1-of-a-kind (I bore easily - HA). Also, it is so important for me to meet with the people who buy my pieces because yes, there is oftentimes a story behind each piece (had one lady literally buy a piece right off of my arm when I told her about the inspiration - the Roman Forum). Knowing that they are buying a 1-of-a-kind and with a backstory, they love to tell the story and more importantly, have told me that they plan to keep the pieces in the family to pass down the generations .. how special is that????
Anyhow, sorry for the verbose write-up, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Jewelry .. can you tell? HA - feel free to check out my Instagram account to see some of my pieces and HAVE FUN!
