Modern Heirloom® Fine Jewelry

  Drawing became a passion of mine at age nine. It was my "natural talent"which required little thought and sketching came easily. At 17,  I packed my bags and headed to Savannah College of Art and Design to become "an artist". It was after my first two foundation years that jewelry came into my world. I was hooked. I loved the balance between process , creativity, and invention. As an artist, I was always equally if not more fascinated by the process of creating as with the conceptual aspects. Jewelry Design and creation  fulfilled this fascination so completely.  The inspiration to design and time to make interweave themselves so seamlessly each day in the goldsmithing shop it allows for each wave of the creative process to have its moment. 20 years and a blink of the eye after my venturing into jewelry making , I am excited to be launching my latest series. "Sketched and Engraved" finds the perfect balance between illustration and metalworking.

As the holidays pass us by, I find myself looking forward to the new year and all it has to bring. 2012 has been an inspired year of creativity and personal artistic growth. The jewelry making world is such a fascinating community. In the past, we all existed in our various jewelry crafting bubbles too busy to venture out to connect with fellow jewelers. This often would leave me feeling disconnected from the jewelry community in which I work and slightly isolated by my craft. My favorite change over the course of this year has been the dynamic social networking has brought to the jewelry making table. It has been an amazing evolution to now connect daily with like creative minds and to show our creations to our collectors as well. The sharing of stories and techiniques bond us as we create our treasures . I have now managed to meet many of the greatest talents in each specialty within the jewelry and metalsmithing field from all over the world.It'sexciting to be a pa

     Sketching helps inspire the mind  Today as I approached the table of many parts,I was beckoned by these lovely little sterling leaf shapes and some silver wire which had been partially forged. They were asking for completion and I was in the mood for a stream of conscious creative session. One of those days where I throw the rigidity of predestined design rules out the window and rely on technique and instinct. Once I have selected my pieces, I begin with sketching to get the creative juices flowing. My intention is not to make these sketches (at least not today) but forging the silver to evolve it's shape  to get my mind working in a general direction to take my pendants in today. Keep in mind my goal...no particular design.   Polishing and cleaning          Feeling inspired, I begin to work.This is the Stream of Conscious part...much like the writing assignment we all know from grade school. My goal is just keep moving and don

pictured below:Illustration by Kathryn Holton Stewart www.silverbonsai.com I first discovered the beauty of hand engraving 5 years ago when I came across a class at Blaine Lewis ' New Approach School for Jeweler's . New Approach was introduced to me when Ben, my husband, studied Advanced Stone Setting under Blaine's instruction . The techniques offered and the p hilosophy of the school was so impressive we were hooked. When I spied a course on Hand Engraving I was completely intrigued and had to check it out. Drawing has been a part of my art since I was 8 . To bring illustration to my metalwork was an exciting concept. I signed up immediately and was fortunate to study under Jason Marchiafava. Jason is a third generation Artist and Craftsman by trade. He began his training metalsmithing and stone setting at a very young age under the supervision of Jeweler Tina May Shiele, the head jeweler of his father and grandfathers shop. By the time Jason graduated High School his s