I have always been interested in creative activities and over the years have worked in a variety of media:  needlework, embroidery, crocheting, wood carving, flower arranging, and other crafts and hobbies.  After taking a class at a local bead shop, however, I became interested in creating jewelry. After that experience, it was finally time for me to abandon that closet full of unfinished crafts and concentrate on jewelry design.

My first jewelry designs were pieces I fashioned with beads, pearls, and stringing materials.  While I still enjoy working in those areas, I became interested in expanding on my skills. Since I had taught traditional crocheting with yarn and string to adults over the years, it was not difficult to move from these materials to working with wire to construct jewelry.  Wire crochet work continues to be an important part of my jewelry line.

Working with wire then led me to explore other fabrication techniques.  I enrolled in several jewelry classes locally and at the John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, North Carolina, where I learned metalsmithing and enameling techniques, and where I continue to take classes with the wonderful instructors at the Folk School.  — www.folkschool.org –

I also subscribe to fine art journals and magazines, read books written by contemporary artists, and attend workshops whenever I can.  My goal is to learn, perfect, and continually incorporate new techniques into my work so that I might fabricate jewelry inspired by what I’ve learned and yet maintain an originality in form and a uniqueness in design.

I invite you to look through this website to view a representative sample of my work.  And while I don’t sell jewelry from my website, I do participate in arts and craft shows and have my pieces in several shops and galleries.  (Click on the links listed here — or go to the pages on this website outlining my show schedule, a list of the shops and galleries where you can purchase my pieces, and various publications over the years that have outlined my work.)  You can also email me for information if a piece interests you and/or if you would like to discuss a custom design.  My email is:  joanne@singularbydesign.com

I hope that my jewelry will captivate your imagination because of its attention to detail, its craftsmanship, and most of all its singularity (the reason for my company’s new name: Singular by Design).