A necklace from Sharon's "Evening Tide" collection. She also offers commissioned work, in which a customer can work with her to design a piece that uniquely reflects them. Photo: Timothy J. Fuss.Many years before she was forging silver and gold into fine jewelry, Sharon was drawn to the woods and the beach.

“Stones, sticks,” she says of treasures she collected during childhood explorations, “and other things I would find near my home.”

Nature remains her muse to this day.

“My major inspiration still comes from nature and life,” says the Rochester, NY, resident whose studio is in the Neighborhood of the Arts. “And the realization that the creative mind I was given is a valuable gift.”

Today, Sharon works in sterling silver, fine silver and high-carat gold that she solders, casts, hammers, etches and bends to her will. And—as in nature—no two pieces are alike.

Sharon“Everything is individually fabricated, so every piece is one of a kind,” Sharon says. Yet all her work combines the organic and the elegant: her signature.

Sharon's jewelry is made of more than silver and gold. Ever drawn to the water, some of her favorite raw materials are precious things plucked from the sea. Even if she has to find them online.

“I love pearls because of their natural luminescence,” she says. “I spend hours hunting for incredible stones to build my pieces around.”

Sharon recently started experimenting with stoneware and porcelain clay. These, too, seem inspired by her memories from the beach as a girl—scavenged stones found and cherished.

Those first stones, too, remain with her in spirit. They reflect her reverence for beauty and creative expression of our world.

Sharon creates many of the individual pieces that form her work from scratch. These unpolished rings will go into a tumbler to be polished before they become works of art.“I believe artistic ability is a gift, and to not recognize, nurture, and use this ability would be an insult to the universe that supports and protects us,” she says.

Fittingly, her contribution to the universe will soon expand. Sharon is adding to her portfolio a collection for men—in response to numerous requests.

“I'll be unveiling them at the upcoming Hearts and Crafts Indie Craft Market at Java's cafe on Gibbs Street the second weekend of December,” she says.

 

See more: www.sj4finejewelry.com

Say hi: sjeter55@gmail.com