Silver, Gold & Glass

Portland, Maine

The first jewelry I remember making was with twist ties that came with sandwich bags before they were the fold over type. I stripped the paper off the wires and replaced it with little sleeves made from paper that I had colored, to my specifications, with either crayons or colored pencils and cellophane tape. I stored the wires and their interchangeable covers in a matchbox that I’m certain I lined and covered in some fashion, though I don’t remember exactly how. I was not, at the time, allowed to wear earrings and I did not have pierced ears so I just squeezed these make-shift hoops onto my ear lobes while riding the bus to school, selecting the paper sleeves to cover the wires that matched whatever outfit I was wearing to fourth grade that day. My bus ride that year was particularly long so I had many hours to wear this intricately engineered accessory, many more than I spent in the construction, but it was the making that I loved.

My relationship with metal began in 1974 at a university hobby center for students. This material that I loved so much was not addressed in any way in that school’s art department so I left. My education truly began in1978 at Penland in North Carolina and eventually led me to a BFA in Jewelry and Metals from Maine College of Art, 1982. After school my education continued when I worked for two years at a craft gallery and then moved to NYC to live with an art school friend, another jeweler. Life as a fulltime production jeweler began in 1987 when I returned to Maine. I became a regular participant in American Craft Council shows and other national juried events, both wholesale and retail. Gallery representation has included: Aaron Faber, Whitney Museum of American Art (Store Next Door), and Clay Pot in NYC, Freehand in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, American Artisan in Nashville, Quadrum and Artful Hand in Boston. I have received editorial coverage in Metalsmith, Jeweler’s Circular Keystone, Ornament and, most recently, Bead and Button ( June 2007 ).

Today I continue to build jewelry with a combination of silver and gold as I have for over twenty years. Always intrigued by the flame, I began lampworking in 2004. Those beads and the bead shows I now attend have triggered an interest in traditional beadwork: off loom weaving, crochet and the like.

My most recent collection, Latitude & Longitude, came from a lifelong interest in all things boat and sea. Originally these pieces were made only as gifts to sailing friends, usually stamped with the coordinates of their home port. Now that technology has broadened the awareness and understanding of these numbers I find that everyone appreciates the idea of identifying a particular place on our planet. I have done the meeting place of a true love, the birthplace of a child, home addresses, favorite destinations, and places dreamt of visiting, yet to be seen. Many people decide they want to identify more than just one spot so are building collections. The designs are extremely simple, meant to be universal in their appeal and wearability , truly just about the precious information they carry.

Copyright 2009 Elizabeth Prior Jewelry