Smithery owners see jewelry as wearable art - ThisWeekNews
Jewelry can be much more than just a personal adornment.
It also can be public art.
"There's a whole intense realm of people making jewelry as art you can wear and display as you go about your day," said Anne Holman. "It's like a form of sculpture."
"Anne and I want to educate people about this art form, because a lot of people have only one idea of what jewelry is," Jen Townsend said.
Holman and Townsend are independent jewelry artists who own the Smithery, a working metalsmith studio and shop at 1306 Grandview Ave. The store is celebrating its second anniversary.
The pair sell their own work made in their on-site studios as well as pieces created by more than 80 artists from around Ohio and across the country.
"Everything we sell is hand-crafted by independent artists who are creating work unlike anything you can find in the big-box stores," said Townsend, who lives in Dublin.
Jewelry is "a very personal art form" for both the creator and the buyer, she said.
A jewelry artist involves being a combination jeweler, metalworker and craft maker, said Holman, a Grandview resident.
Both Holman and Townsend are graduates of the Columbus College of Art and Design and met when Holman was a guest speaker in one of Townsend's classes.
Years later, the pair shared studio space and began to talk about their mutual interest in founding a business like the Smithery.
"We both had been traveling around selling our work at galleries and festivals, and we each had a desire to create a business that would serve as a studio, workshop and shop," Holman said.
In addition to the studio and store, the Smithery offers workshops and a monthly walk-in Make and Take stamping event.
"We have participants ranging from 5-year-old children who come in with their parents to people who are in their 80s," Townsend said. "It's a fairly simple technique that anyone can do."
The event involves stamping metal into shapes that can be made into charms, key chains, necklaces and pet tags, Holman said.
The next Make and Take event will be held from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22. The pricing is per item and participants can make as many pieces as they wish.
Among their own work, Holman said she particularly enjoys creating antique map jewelry using sterling silver, while Townsend specializes in kiln-fired enamel.
"I originally wanted to be a painter, but I fell in love with jewelry art because it's so much more personal than just creating an artwork someone may hang up on their wall," Townsend said.
"Sometimes you can be out at the grocery store and you'll see someone wearing earrings you made and it's really cool," she said. "It's so rewarding to see that someone values what you made."
Along with jewelry, the store sells leather goods, textiles, ceramics and prints.
"We sell a variety of items at very accessible prices," Holman said.
The Smithery also will create work on commission from customers, she said.
Often, customers bring in an idea they have looked for in vain at traditional jewelry stores, Holman said.
A couple recently brought in pebbles they picked up at a beach and asked for them to be used as the center stones of their engagement rings.
"It doesn't have to be something that is a precious gem," Holman said. "People bring in ideas using materials that aren't expensive, but have sentimental value to them."
The Smithery is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. The store is closed Mondays.
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