I believe that jewelry is much more than pretty things with which to adorn our bodies. Jewelry can have deep sentimental value, trigger precious memories of special times and events and remind us of those we love. Creating it is an endeavor that involves using a wide variety of materials and many different kinds of techniques to design wonderfully creative and complicated works of art. Hence the name of my shop, Jewelry Art by Dawn.

My own journey with this art form began several years ago when a friend sent me some charms from France and I decided I wanted to create a bracelet using the charms. I had no idea where to begin but the local bead store seemed like a logical place. The kind woman who worked there helped me select some beads and showed me how to add crimp beads to the ends of my wire to keep the beads in place. I was hooked.

From there I spent many hours reading and scouring the internet for information, tips and tutorials. After that came practice, practice and more practice learning new skills and techniques. I started out stringing beads and once I felt comfortable with that, moved on to working with wire as I greatly admire the many talented artists who create amazing works of jewelry made of wire.

Along the way, I realized that this would be a perfect way to pursue my other love - painting. I began by hand painting wood beads one bead at a time. It was time consuming work, but the results dazzled me. From there I started creating miniature paintings and turning them into pendants that could be used in my jewelry designs. Most of my little paintings aren't much larger than an American quarter. I absolutely love making these little works of art and each is a one of a kind that won't be duplicated.

I also like to incorporate non-traditional items into my jewelry designs such as antique buttons, vintage components I find in little out of the way shops, unusually shaped stones, beautiful shells and recently had a custom order that used a horse tooth. No horses were harmed; the customer's horse had to have a tooth pulled and she wanted to use the tooth in a jewelry design. That was a fun project!

Thank you for stopping by; I hope you enjoy your visit to my shop!