While Catbird’s artisans are creating handcrafted jewelry pieces, they’re sipping on free cold brew in their Brooklyn, NY studio. It’s what you’ll find in the jewelry box from Black-owned brand Omi Woods, where all of the pieces tell an African story. That’s why we look for fair trade or the equivalent that demonstrates a brand practices what they preach without an official seal. It often incorporates traditional techniques, local materials, and a unique design that might even tell a story.Īnd it’s (almost) exactly what we’re uncovering here.Įxcept we’re also looking out for brands who ensure ethical practices are maintained in their creation of fair trade and artisan jewelry.įor us, “fair trade” doesn’t necessarily mean certified, as certification can be expensive. It’s jewelry that’s been made by a skilled (usually singular) craftsperson. “There is still so much more to see and so many different cultures to explore.” Both her love of the outdoors and other cultures influence her work.īrigid KO pieces are available locally at the 214 Magnolia gallery, the Knoxville Museum of Art gift shop, on Instagram, and online at everything that mass-produced jewelry isn’t. “I love to travel, and I’ve been lucky enough to have been many places around the world.” she says. “I like to make one-of-a-kind designs I don’t mass-produce anything.”Įast Tennessee’s mountains and lakes inspire Oesterling she travels as often as she can and recently took a four-night canoe and camping trip on the New River in Virginia. “I use a torch and hand tools to manipulate the metals,” she says. Selling under the name of Brigid KO (her middle and last initials), Oesterling incorporates natural semi-precious stones-opal, turquoise, and quartz, to name a few-into her designs. She received a grant from Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts and perfected her craft. An artist who’s worked in a number of media, she gravitated to jewelry because of her own love for it and a desire to work with metal. Though COVID-19 required her to take on some freelance work, she hopes she’ll soon return to her routine of traveling and selling along the way.Ī New England native, Oesterling moved to East Tennessee in 2005. You can find her work at her storefront (she recommends calling before you arrive) and online at Brigid KO | Returning to travel 2021 Cityview Magazine, Inc.īefore 2020, Brigid Oesterling ran a regular circuit to art events and shows-Nashville, Asheville, Chicago, and Atlanta-to sell her brass and silver pieces. ![]() Weiss makes a lot of custom jewelry and also attends shows and markets around the country. From there she developed a line of gold and silver necklaces for their owners that complement the dog tags. She’s been at that location for eight years, sharing the space with her friends Rosebud and Petunia, her rescue pit bulls.ĭuring the COVID-19 shutdown, Weiss realized how important our dogs are to us and created a line of heavy-duty brass, jewelry-inspired dog tags, donating a portion of the sales to Young-Williams Animal Center. ![]() A few years later she opened Jessica Weiss Jewelry and Studio on Kingston Pike. She took one in jewelry making, then another, and fell in love.įor half a dozen years or so she ran a shop that sold her work along with that of other local makers, but the 2009 recession closed it. Her parents didn’t share her concern instead, they encouraged her to take a class at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina. But it’s Knoxville jeweler Jyl Walker who bends and shapes those precious metals to create one-of-a-kind necklaces, bracelets, and earrings.Ī fine arts major with a degree from the University of Tennessee, Weiss came out of school anxious about how she’d earn a living. Titanium and Argentium sound like materials the Man of Steel might use. Jyl Walker | Electrifying color 2021 Cityview Magazine, Inc. More can be found online at The Maker City’s website, or that of the Foothills Craft Guild, As craft markets return, many jewelers will be displaying their work there as well. These Knoxville jewelers represent just a small sample of the range of styles available from local makers. But from all their work shines beauty, satisfaction, and imagination. ![]() They sell differently, too: online, at craft shows and markets, from a local storefront. The three Knoxville women arrived at jewelry making along different paths and found inspiration from a variety of sources: nature, travel, ancient cultures, craft schools, a jeweler father. But for all their differences, Brigid Oesterling, Jessica Weiss, and Jyl Walker share a common goal: to create one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry that satisfy their own creativity and please their customers. And a third creates titanium-electrifying colors. Another relishes the richness of high-karat gold. Inspiration shines as artists bring beauty and character to custom jewelry
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