I often wonder why I make jewelry.  I actually enjoy several other art forms as well, including watercolor painting, knitting, and spinning.  Jewelry is the artform I am most skilled in.

A friend invited me to take a metalworking jewelry class with her.  The teacher, Susan Lenart, showed us how to combine different materials, including found objects, using cold connections, like riveting and screwing things together.  Susan’s jewelry had a rustic, bohemian vibe, and I discovered that her techniques would allow me to combine weird and unusual objects together into small sculptures I could wear!  I loved that metal was strong enough to withstand support my additions to it while allowing me to bend it into interesting shapes.

People often ask where I get my inspiration.  Anyone who has been around me knows I’m a bit of a magpie and love to pick up odd bits from the street or purchase unusually shaped objects.  Making jewelry gives me an opportunity to do something useful with this habit.  I usually start with a couple of bits that interest me on my bench.  I move them around until I come up with an interesting configuration.  Then I begin a hunt for things to add on.  Sometimes I have a general idea that I’d like to try a certain technique, but it’s seldom more than that.

The biggest challenge for me is making my idea a reality.  It’s easy to lay things out on a flat surface so that they look good.  But the connections and the order in which to do them are the challenging part.  I definitely don’t always do them in the right order.  Figuring out a solution is sometimes the most creative part!

In the end, seeing someone try on my jewelry and find a connection with it is my best motivation and inspiration.  It still feels like opening a present to me when someone honors me by purchasing a piece.  It means that they might see the world the way I do.  That connection keeps me going.