My name is Anabella Zagura, and I love to swim in lakes, bike through beautiful scenery, dance blues and tango, and hunch over metal sheets, hammering them into, hopefully, something beautiful.

For many years , I had no idea I had any crafty, or artistic inclinations. I studied philosophy, then taught it to college students. Then at some point, around 2005, I found out that being alive was for me less a matter of reflection, and more a matter of making things, useful or beautiful things - like a meal, or a lamp, or a plant stand. There is a physical immediacy in connecting with the world by working with concrete objects: in kneading a dough with your hands, sanding wood, or forging metal. A connection that doesn't happen through abstract thinking, reflecting on the world, or even impacting it in a way mediated by machines, or by others' physical work. I need this connection. That's why I love working with metal, using traditional metalsmithing techniques: it's just between you and the metal, sweating to shape it into your vision, (or changing your vision to suit the whims of the metal...), using only basic, minimal tools.

These are some of the reasons I make jewelry. But making things is ultimately pointless if they are not used. Ultimately, I make a necklace with an idea of how beautiful a woman would look wearing it, how she would enjoy it. If I were rich, perhaps I would gift everything I make. But I'm not rich. So if you find in my store something you love and afford, please buy it :) And (if the previous request wasn't blunt enough), let me know how it's doing!

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