Metal & Jewelry
   |
Although I hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing, at the age of forty serendipity put me together with a studio jeweler. Through that association I discovered in myself a desire to be a maker of objects in metal, ones small enough to be worn. Eventually I went to work for that artist jeweler who taught me the basics - how to hold a jeweler's saw, to polish and solder. It was also my great fortune somewhat later to apprentice for a German trained goldsmith. Here I learned discipline, rigor and precision. My first soldering station was underneath the stove hood in my kitchen with a hand held propane torch and tips from the hardware store. Little by little I began to acquire hand tools and develop a small studio of my own. Several years later I went into business for myself as a member in an established jewelry studio with a storefront. From the beginning I was lucky to have very accomplished mentors who coached and encouraged me. I entered competitions with favorable results and eventually received an invitation to be a participant in a local jewelry show, and then came juried craft shows, among them the Washington Craft Show and the Smithsonian Craft Show. Moving to Lexington KY from the Washington DC area in 2003 prompted me to look for opportunities in Kentucky. It was important to me to become a member of a recognized organization that identifies and promotes worthy craft and its makers. In 2004 I was juried into the Kentucky Guild for Artists and Craftsmen and in 2005 the Kentucky Crafted Marketing Program. It has been since 1986 that I began working in metal, inspired then as now by the geometry of architecture and industrial design. The architecture of my own work embraces simple clean lines and a consistent vocabulary of geometric forms integrated into strong minimal constructions. Value for me is in the shape and autonomy of every piece, an object of art on a scale that can be worn as jewelry. I design and hand fabricate all my work from sterling silver, 14 karat gold, aluminum or combinations, often punctuating a piece with a single cultured pearl. I have been told that my work is elegant and sophisticated, diminutive in scale but very strong in design, the delicate made important by its presentation. |
 |
|
|
Jan Peters |
|
