Why do I make jewelry?

Once a month, members of the EtsyMetal team are given a topic or question and then are requested to blog about it simultaneously. This month's topic is:

Why do you make jewelry?
Think hard, dig deep!

WOW.

Another difficult question.

Well here's the easy part of the answer: How did I start making jewelry?

• I made my first piece of jewelry about 25 years ago but it was NOT love at first sight.
• I actually fell in love with metal working a year or two later while making a large steel sculpture.
• METAL + FIRE = LOVE!
• Another year or so later, I found myself concentrating my college studies in metals/jewelry. I KNEW this is what I was supposed to do with my life.
• And...I have been making jewelry ever since...

The hard part of the answer: Why am I still making jewelry?

• AHHHHHH...good question!
• When I am at the bench and in my zone, jewelry making is pure joy. (METAL + FIRE = LOVE!...right?!?!)
• But.....I have to admit that after all these years, I have found myself a little bit burnt out. (The reason for this may need to be another blog post.)
• I don't spend as much time at the bench as I used to.
• But it is the only thing I know.
• And I do love it.
• I have been taking steps to get my mojo back...because I have to!

What is inspiring me to love my love for jewelry making again?

• New work is inspiring me.
• Manipulating metal, soldering and creating is my passion.
• Making wedding bands is inspiring me.
• Rings are somewhat limiting in design, but they are very intimate objects and many times have such deep personal meaning...this really appeals to me.
• Helping couples to make their own wedding bands in my workshop is inspiring me.
• This is SO satisfying. Showing a novice the work involved in making a fine piece of jewelry and watching the couple work together fills me with joy. 
• Teaching others is inspiring me.
• I have recently REdiscovered the joy of sharing my knowledge with others. It is a nice change from working alone in my studio.

So have I answered the original question, Why do you make jewelry?
I make jewelry because I love working with my hands, I love working with metal, I love stones, I love making objects that make others happy. It is my career, my art, my passion, my life. Sometimes we stumble or slow down along the journey but we still continue...

Please follow these links to read why my fellow EtsyMetal members' make jewelry:

1. Cynthia Del Giudice
2. Laura Jane Bouton
3. silentgoddess
4. Beth Cyr
5. Peculiar Forest
6. Tosca Terán
7. Nodeform
8. Mary Anne Karren
9. My Precious Studio
10. Deborah Lee Taylor
11. Anne Walker
12. Andrea Ring
13. Gracebourne Design
14. Evelyn Markasky
15. Inbar Bareket
16. Jewellietta
17. Abella Blue
18. e5 Jewelry

Recent Custom Pieces...

Once again, I have neglected to keep up with my blogging. I am going to try my best to regularly post in this upcoming year. So to start it off, I will share a recent custom order I made...

A lovely repeat (& local!) customer liked my Geometric Series and wanted me to create a pendant and earring set using rubies from an old ring.
This was my initial sketch for her:

After a few meetings and a final sketch, this was the final product:
Sterling silver, 18k gold, pearl and rubies

She loved it! I am grateful to have such a lovely, kind and patient client! :)

Massimo Vignelli

While in Atlanta a few weeks ago, I was *invited to attended a Massimo Vignelli lecture presented at SCAD Atlanta. Initially, I did not think I was familiar with Massimo Vignelli's designs...until I started to recognize much of his work during the presentation. He has designed everything from corporate identity, package design and product design to furniture, showroom design and subway signage. The scope of accomplishment in his five decade career is vast and truly inspiring.Vignelli is "a Modernist Design Legacy" whose work focuses on simplicity through the use of basic geometric forms, simple fonts and is highly architectural in character. Less is more.

I subscribe to a very similar design philosophy/aesthetic and I can only hope that my work is viewed as "visually powerful, elegant and timeless." Below are a few quotes from Vignelli that I jotted down during the lecture. They really struck a cord with me:

-Sift, sift, sift...until you get to the essence.

-Decoration should not be added, it should be integrated.

-Play with light---and the reflection or absorption of light, texture vs. shine.

*Thanks to Lisa and Jane for inviting me!

My Design Process

Once a month, members of the EtsyMetal team are asked a question and then requested to blog about it simultaneously. This month's question is: The Creative Process: How do you plan and organize for design?

I use simple geometric forms as the building blocks for most of my designs, which are inspired by architecture, machines, toys and nature. When I get a new idea or see a shape that excites me, I try to get a quick sketch down on paper. Many of my designs are modular and linear...so as I begin to work with that idea or shape, I move things around and create multiple variations. As a result, sometimes the design evolves or completely changes, many times it grows into a whole collection of jewelry (eg: bracelets, earrings and necklaces). I do this both on paper and with the metal parts I make....
I really like designing by playing with "pieces parts" and as a result of that, my bench is always completely cluttered. I have many "parts" all over the place...ready for me to arrange and re-arrange and re-arrange...until someday it becomes a finished design. This is both good and bad. I like being reminded of my many ideas and their "parts" but is also distracting and just a down-right messy. I have been meaning to do a serious clean up for months but I am very good at procrastination! And don't forget what Albert Einstein said:

If a cluttered desk signs a cluttered mind, Of what, then, is an empty desk a sign?

Please visit the other blogs participating in today's blog carnival to read about their design process:
Victoria Takahashi/Experimetal
Thomasin Durgin/metalriot
Su Trindle/QuercusSilver
Inbar Bareket
Stacey Hansen
Nina Gibson
Corliss & John Rose/2Roses
Maria Whetman
Beth Cyr