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.

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

I have noticed a pattern over the last 25 years of creating....yes I started at age 9 and then it was all about drawing disney characters as accurately as possible. It wasn't until I had many jewelry making years under my belt and I returned to drawing on the side that I noticed this pattern . I now try to make it a point to practice it regularly. What am I referring to? Improving your skill set through practicing another. After my art school days, I had been sculpting metal regularly. One day I felt inspired to sit down and randomly bust out a drawing. Low and behold, I was better at drawing than I ever had been before, Much better. Strange...I mean, I hadn't drawn in years. How could I have improved? What I found as I drew, was that my line no longer stopped at the visual edge of the object I was drawing. In my mind's eye, it traveled around the object. I could see the hidden areas. Working three dimensionally had taught me to better understand Contour and shape and mo

As I have been searching for what to create for the Vision Awards,(Yes I know last minute) , it got me thinking about design inspiration.... In order to train eyes and hands to the paper, we must first train our eye to the world around us, where everyday objects can inspire extraordinary things. I often find myself looking for underlying shapes & observing the textures and colors within them. I learn to appreciate the movement of line.... in, around, and through space. Becoming a visual data collector, this sense of observation harnesses creative inspiration and develops design skills. Our environment can serve as a constant source of creative and visual inspiration. From the organic line work of a flower to the architectural detailing of a building , we are surrounded by an inspiring array of shape, texture, & color. In jewelry design, we must also look to the human figure for inspiration. Jewelry by definition is meant to interact with the body. It is a wearable art. The figu