Apparently I was an infant jewel thief, reaching up from my crib and grabbing costume clip-ons from the ear lobes of unsuspecting church ladies volunteering in the nursery during services. My personal recollection is that my affair with jewelry began on Christmas Day when I was eight years old and my parents gave me a pink jewelry box with a windup ballerina that spun to Für Elise filled with costume jewelry. An instant favorite was a ring with heart shaped light blue glass in the middle of two filigree gold-plated hearts. I didn’t take the ring off until the day I looked at my hand and saw that the heart fell out, and then I dissolved into tears, inconsolable. I'd lost a friend. In a valiant effort to jump-start the healing process, my mom took me to a bead shop for supplies so I could make my own jewelry.  And so I did. 

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Formally, I’ve attended classes in metal-smithing, forming and forging, stone setting, lost wax casting and enameling at Denver School of Metal Arts. My sense for jewelry proportion, pattern, finish and feel is influenced by the two places I’ve lived, first Southern California’s Orange County and then Denver, Colorado. The pieces I design typically follow the same journey: I first see the focal point or shiny element to a piece and then tone it down by framing it with satin, oxidized or distressed metal or other material.

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Of my earthly possessions, jewelry is the most precious. It helps me to remember my life, the person who gave me a piece or an occasion that prompted a gift or purchase. Jewelry holds memories and retells stories, and jewelry shares its own tales with components ancient, natural and from the earth with the ability to hold and give energy.

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I made each piece of jewelry for sale on this website.

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Thanks for reading.

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Julie

K Street Jewelry

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