What is artisan jewelry, you might ask?

Well, I can answer that! It is classed as jewelry that has been made by the hands of a creative jewelry artist, comprised mainly of high-quality stones and metal findings. If the artistry is resonant enough by using components with meaningful words and special, rare gemstones, it can exist as a highly personalized piece of jewelry for the wearer.

Artisan jewelry is often made completely from scratch, where the artisan uses lost wax casting or prepares the metals through heating, bending and shaping, sets stones, fires enamels, as well as creates the jewelry. Some artisan jewelry is crafted with ready-made components, whereby the artisan artistically connects all the pieces together. Regardless of the techniques used, usually hours of time and concentration are given to creating a piece of handcrafted artisan jewelry to assure that it is beautiful, unique, and far from ordinary.

One of my greatest passions is creating, selling and giving artisan jewelry as gifts or wearing it myself. I especially enjoy giving it to women that appreciate having it as "their own." My favorite elements are organic sterling silver findings that are lovingly made by hand in small quantities rather than mass produced (see examples at my website at Sharonunlimited.com). Having a rare and exquisite piece of jewelry that has been made or chosen specifically for me (or my customer) is a touching and memorable gift to receive and treasure for many years to come. Love, Sharon

My First Men's Ring

Inspiration strikes at the oddest moments and the strangest of places. Perhaps it's the coincidental meeting of someone at a party or on a trail, and in a few short minutes we have something crazy in common. And there I am sitting in what feels like a one-seater with this stranger --not really a stranger any more-- caning it until we are stuffed by another rider as a back tire steps out, knowing this ride is going to come to an end soon. We will literally go our separate ways, but until we do I use this awkward and awesome opportunity to create a new piece of jewelry: a ring from my favorite new metal Argentium sterling silver.

I marvel at the power of the muse and how it is normal and easy to come by because life is about coincidences that just sit there waiting for me to notice them and act on. Mostly they are real gems, like this guy and his new ring. ~Sharon Marzonie

Hydraulic Press Bracelet Class

I traveled to the scorching-hot city of Mesa, Arizona to take a 2-day bracelet workshop using the rolling mill to pattern my metal and use the synclastic and anticlastic bracelet formers on the hydraulic press. The Mesa Arts Center (MAC) is a tropical-desert-themed campus where my class was held in the Studios North building. Besides there being a Jewelry studio, I noticed a Lapidary studio, a Sculpture studio, a dark room and a work terrace.

My bracelets started out as flat, 18 gauge sheet copper metal that I bought for $6.25. Other metals would have worked too, such as brass, bronze, nickel, sterling silver or Argentium sterling silver. I cut my sheet to a width of about 1.5 to 2 inches for a nice wide cuff and a length of about 6 to 6.5 inches long. I made 4 bracelets total, which you will see pictured below. The one not pictured was made from red brass (a bright gold color) imprinted with a decorative metal screen that produced little rounded crosses on it.

The rolling mill is one of my favorite tools because one can imprint all kinds of flat textures like cardboard, pieces of lace/fabric, sandpaper and other paper or metal cutouts (after annealing it first). One gal in the glass had pre-formed patterned brass strips that she used to get a really solid imprint reminding me of an exotic upholstery. As a final touch, we used a solution of liver of sulfur to darken the recessed areas. I filed and polished the corners and edges of my bracelets repeatedly to get them smooth to the touch. Overall a fantastic class and teacher. Thanks, Polly! Enjoy ~Sharon Marzonie

Palm trees on my way to class...
My first anticlastic bracelet with a paper cutout imprint:
My first synclastic bracelet with lace imprint and hammered edges:

Classmate using the hydraulic press. Note the press is run by an electric switch.

Another bracelet I made texturing it with a flat, mummy-like palm tree husk:

Another classmate hammering her bracelet. She really got into hand-forging and planishing her pieces: