Anna's China Jewelry creates new pieces from old - Charleston Gazette-Mail
The bits and pieces of yesteryear -- a vintage button here, an old coin there -- often found in battered cigar boxes or in household "junk drawers" -- are the raw materials from which Anna Toler Frazier can create wearable memories.
Frazier is an artisan who specializes in creating jewelry items made from vintage precious metals, found items and from shards of old china dishware.
For 18 years, her Anna's China Jewelry has been turning out one-of-kind jewelry pieces. In her hands, a small bit of beauty from a castoff item could become the focal point of an entirely new creation.
The Tamarack artisan creates her work from a studio at her Fraziers Bottom home.
"When I first started out, I did only the china jewelry," Frazier said.
Since then, she has branched out into stained glass, silversmithing and "forging," which is hammering designs into metal.
"Now, I like to work in metals," she said, adding that china jewelry is still a big part of her work.
With an artist's eye, Frazier can see how an old shard of china can become part of an attractive jewelry piece. Customers often bring her heirloom china that has been broken.
"Maybe their grandmother's plate got broken, and then I'll make (jewelry) pieces for the family," she said.
"People will also bring me things they've found in the ground."
One customer brought Frazier a piece of "sea glass" she found. The customer was building a home on a piece of farm land and found the sea glass.
"While they were digging up the ground to build their home, they found this sea glass," she said.
Frazier will also find old china at estate sales and antique shops. She'll break them up and create unique jewelry items from them.
"I also use a lot of found objects, such as coins and buttons. People will also bring me their mother's old jewelry box that has broken pieces in it."
Old cigar boxes filled with treasures are also sources of raw materials for Frazier.
"A friend brought me an old cigar box, and it had things in it that had belonged to her father. It had his watch in it and coins from when he had traveled when he was in the Army."
From those items, Frazier made a one-of-a-kind necklace.
"I really like to find things and put create them into jewelry pieces."
She enjoys creating what she calls "travel necklaces" for customers. These necklaces include small mementos from trips they've taken.
"The basic necklace might have a compass on it, or maybe a St. Christopher's medal on it. And when people travel, they might find rocks or coins -- just all kinds of thing to put on there."
One memorable piece Frazier created for a customer included a tooth.
"I did a little charm for a mother -- and her husband wished me to do it -- and it had their son's baby tooth in it," she said. "I made it so it looked like the center of a flower. It doesn't look like a tooth unless you really look at it."
Frazier is mostly a self-taught artisan. She has completed classes, though, in silversmithing, stained glass and forging.
Frazier also attended the Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
"It's been there for over 100 years," she said.
Frazier said she works in her studio just about every day. It's filled with the tools she uses for her creations.
She uses an acetylene torch to solder pieces together, and she also has a collection of hammers, files and metal saws.
Frazier said it takes a lot of hand-eye coordination to create her jewelry pieces. Problem-solving skills also come into play.
"You have to problem-solve as to how things are going to fit together," she said.
Frazier said her work can be purchased at Tamarack as well as in the gift shop at the state Culture Center in Charleston.
Her work is also available at Hidden Creek Mercantile on Main Street in Hurricane.
"I also do a lot of custom work," she said.
For more information about Anna's China Jewelry, visit her Facebook page, http://ift.tt/2D1qXN7, or call her, 304-415-5851.
