Handmade Jewelry

Handmade is term that has a tendency to be overused, and yet it really does mean something specific. When you see something in any medium that is handmade, there’s a difference. With handmade jewelry, for example, there’s a richness, a texture and a depth to the pieces. I don’t really know what it is, it’s a little bit intangible, but people respond to it. There’s a place for mass-produced jewelry, absolutely; but there is also a definite place for handmade jewelry. My Mom was a designer for many years, and she used to say, “for every pot there’s a lid.” There is a good fit for everybody.
With handmade jewelry, you have fabricated a piece from scratch. You’re working with wire or sheet metal. You shape the metal, you mold the metal, and you turn it into something beautiful and wearable. That’s different than something that’s stamped out by a machine. I believe that. I have seen through the years that people really respond to handmade jewelry whether they know they’re responding to it or not. Obviously in an art festival situation or when they’re walking into an American-made gallery, they know it’s handmade jewelry. But I am telling you that just from a person, a woman wearing it; people respond. Where did that come from? Who made that? There’s a difference with handmade jewelry. Some of it is subtle, and some of it is intangible, but there really is a difference.