I had originally attended art school to pursue a degree in Sequential Art but over time found that it was not my passion. Eventually, through a free studio-elective, I took a “Introduction to Metal Fabrication” class.

 

In the course, I was immediately drawn to the technical aspect of jewelry making. Techniques have obviously evolved over time but are still recognizable to ones in use hundreds of years ago and it made me more interested in deconstructing a finished piece to figure out how it worked. I took the opportunity to work with the CAD program Rhino3D, at the time very new to the jewelry industry, and found that I really enjoyed working in that 3D computer space, which is a fun juxtaposition to traditional jewelry gouache rendering.

 

Through the various stops through my career, I have always found myself learning fine jewelry design by shadowing the staff master jewelers whenever I could. This allowed me to develop and round my skills, and eventually to work as a designer for many well-know American brands.

 

My journey has taken me from fast fashion baubles sold at Claire’s Store around the world, designing brooches worn by former first lady Michelle Obama at Alexis Bittar (one of my personal favorite, I must admit), to attending workshops in Paris led by artisans at Van Cleef & Arpels for High Jewelry Design, finally completing my B.F.A. in Jewelry Design during the pandemic, and now living in Paris completing an MBA with the Haute Ècole de Joaillerie.

 

And that passion I mentioned earlier? Turns out sometimes, you can find them by taking free studio-electives…