Broken Porcelain Jewelry with Katelyn Johnson

Katelyn Johnson produces stylish jewellery employing damaged porcelain items and carefully crafted sterling silver bezel configurations. Generating jewelry will help Katelyn take her ADHD, and she hopes her handcrafted layouts also assist many others who are having difficulties with brokenness in their life. She is a 2022 Halstead Grant Semi-Finalist and a 2022 Interweave Major 20 honoree.

Above image: Blue Rose Ring by Katelyn Elyse Jewellery. All shots courtesy of the artist.

Escalating a Business

Q: Inform us your story, wherever you are in your career, and has jewelry producing turn into your full-time job?

I started off Katelyn Elyse Jewellery nearly five yrs ago and it has slowly and gradually developed each year. My intention 1 working day is to be able to develop jewellery and operate my company as my complete-time position. In the meantime, I function a normal 8-5 task and use that money to guidance myself and my enterprise while my organization carries on to improve.

Q: Did you analyze jewelry earning in college or university? Provide an internship? Self-taught?

I realized most of what I know by earning my BFA in Jewellery and Metalsmithing at Grand Valley Condition College. While finishing up my diploma I worked for an impartial jeweler in Grand Haven, Michigan, Lisa Lehmann, who confirmed me that it was doable to make jewellery as my whole-time occupation. Via earning my diploma and functioning with Lisa I was capable to discover so a lot about jewelry creating and how I could use my expertise to assist myself economically and dwell my aspiration life.

Made With Appreciate

Q: What is the one most crucial jewelry creating skill you have acquired and why?

Soldering. Each one piece of jewellery I make needs careful soldering and practical experience to fuse the silver items together without melting them. It is the ability that took me the longest to grasp and the one that I like applying the most.

Linked: 4 Recommendations for Creating Pottery and Sea Glass Jewelry with Delicate Soldering

Q: You talk about placing your heart in your function, you should explain to us how you shift your thoughts by you into your process and components.

My full Renewed line arrived from the feeling of staying broken and pondering there was a little something incorrect with me owing to my ADHD. Each and every time I make a piece of jewellery using damaged porcelain, I’m capable to mend my detrimental thoughts and come to peace with how my own brain works. Getting a broken piece of porcelain, smoothing out the rough edges and then thoroughly producing a silver encasement in which to hold the porcelain is incredibly therapeutic. I appreciate that in the span of a couple hours I can deliver attractiveness and joy into a thing that was the moment broken.

Flawlessly Imperfect

Q: Explain to us what sets your function apart from others? What makes your perform distinctive?

I’m not the only just one to build jewelry out of damaged plates but I am exclusive in my model. Environment the porcelain items requires time and care. Relatively than drilling a hole as a result of the plate and attaching a chain or earring hooks, I deal with the porcelain pieces as if they had been a valuable stone. I create a silver bezel exclusively for each individual one of a kind shape. Then, I area the prongs very carefully to carefully hold the piece of plate in spot though showing off the floral design. It’s a wearisome and time-consuming process but it results in significant high-quality parts that are in contrast to other jewellery of their form.

Q: Have you manufactured any mistakes that you can to share?

My largest error has been assuming that I will need to deal with everything on my possess and that inquiring for enable is a signal of weak point. It was only when I asked for outside help that my company was ready to prosper. I’ve figured out extra about what I’m capable of. Owning and operating a tiny enterprise is a enormous task and is usually quite isolating. But inquiring for assistance is not a sign of weak spot, it is a indication of strength.

Learn Katelyn Elyse Jewellery

Katelyn states, “Jewelry design and style and the means to do the job with my palms is a lifetime passion that provides me remarkable joy. I live in the countryside and love the peace and contemporary air it brings. I enjoy spending time gardening, actively playing with my doggy, remodeling my household, or hanging out with my family members.” Follow @katelynelysejewelry on Facebook and Instagram.

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