This chapter of the story all started when I, a then 23 year old recent college graduate, moved into a shuttle bus-turned-camper and drove south. At the time, I was living in Colorado working construction. I worked for a small business doing home renovations, additions, and new builds. I had just graduated from college with a 4 year degree in Geography and Environmental Studies. My time in university trained me to think deeply about natural systems, humanity, the other-than-human communities, and how we all can get along on this planet. I loved construction, but my studies told me there were ways to build more sustainably than the methods I had been learning. I had studied some of these methods in college, but never seen or worked with them first hand. Somewhere along the way I found “Earthships”.
I went down a rabbit hole of researching these Earthships, their historical origins, and their current day manifestations. Luckily for me and my budding love of Earthships, the creators of the idea were based in Taos, New Mexico, less than 4 hours from my home in Colorado Springs! I signed up for a volunteer opportunity, and in August, made my way down to Taos.
It was my first day in the area of Taos. I had some time to spend before check-in at the Earthship academy, and as I drove I saw an artists market by the river. I was an artist myself (mostly painting and drawing at the time) so I was always drawn to this kind of thing My 2004 Ford shuttle bus rumbled into the dirt parking lot, and after throwing it into park and clicking the key out of the ignition, I walked up to the first artists, intent on speaking to each one. I talked with all sorts of artists, sharing our stories and passions for art. There were painters, sculptors, beading, and jewelry artists. One particular artist, an older man, I spoke to for a seemingly endless time. I saw myself in him; perhaps he too saw himself in me. He had worked construction and carpentry when he was younger. He loved art and never stopped making it from the time he was young till now (he was part way through his 60’s, I guessed). He spoke softly, simply, but he obviously loved sharing. His eyes would light up as he recalled each story of his life, the serendipity of his journey as a human and an artist. Eventually after much talk, I bought a glistening copper cuff with a rich turquoise stone set in its center. We said our gratitudes and salutations, and I departed. I was off to build Earthships a few miles down the road.
I worked and learned about Earthships for a few weeks. Thoughts of the old jeweler eventually left my mind. I became consumed with the experiences and learning of the Earthship academy, and all the new and interesting people I met there. The Earthship community was an eclectic mix of hippies, nomads, architects, artists, and the like. My people. We spent time working, learning, exploring hot springs and hikes in the area. I spent time exploring Taos square, and drinking beer with my fellow students in the Earthship they stayed in, lovingly called The Castle. Then out of the blue, something clicked within me.
I woke up one morning suddenly, but calmly. My eyes glided open, greeted by the soft, warm light bouncing off the birch wood panels of my bus. Not a moment later than my eyes registered my surroundings I felt words echoing in my mind, clear as day.
“I need to start making jewelry”.
With these words rippling through me, there was none of the usual second guessing, negotiating, or downplaying that was typical at that time in my life. My inner critic was quiet. It was pure knowing.
“I don’t know why, but I need to start making jewelry.”
This gentle flash of guidance set me on a mission. Two days later I skipped a day of volunteer work at the Earthship academy to trek into town. As the sun began to peek over the roof of the building, I walked into Bead Creations in Taos square. I was met by a short, dark haired woman with light brown skin and a colorful blouse. She looked to me and greeted me,
“Hi! Welcome in! Anything I can help you find?”
I returned her greeting, then said, “I want to start wire wrapping, do you know anything about it?”
To my luck, she did. She said she practiced it herself, and showed me some of her projects. I knew the basics of what I would need; wire of varying diameters, pliers, and cutters. Beyond that, I was mostly clueless. I asked her if she could show me what I would need to start. She nodded, came around the glass topped counter and busied herself with showing me options for each and every tool and material I’d need, educating me all the way. First we looked at copper wire options.
“Most people use 18 gauge wire as a core wire, and will wrap or weave something smaller, like 26 gauge around the core wires.” she said. We made decisions together, and moved on to pliers and cutters.
“These pliers work well, but not that much better than these, which are way cheaper, so I’d recommend the cheaper ones if you're just trying it out.” We made our way further around the store.
“This kind of ring mandrel will let you size rings, and make nice circles. I prefer the wood ones over the steel.”
On it went like this, her kindness and knowledge gifted freely. I felt a smile as we talked, and gratitude as she answered all my questions with such compassion and thoroughness. She made it all seem so approachable. Some 45 minutes and $108 dollars later, I walked out, feeling confident to start!
I made my way back towards the Earthship village where I was parking my home-on-wheels. I headed towards an earthship that some of my fellow students were staying in, where I frequently spent time. I set out all my tools and materials on a large wooden cable spool that served as a table for the house. I had found a small black riverstone on a hike a few days prior that I planned to use for my first creation. I deftly navigated my laptop's web browser and pulled up a youtube tutorial. Over the next hour, I wrapped that river stone into my very first piece of jewelry; a copper wire ring, with the black riverstone as the main focal point.
Immediately after admiring and celebrating this new creation I went outside, staged it on a log by the front door, and snapped photos of it as the sun set. That very same evening I made the first iteration of my website on Shopify, and posted the ring. I shared it on my art instagram, the first post in just over 2 years. Just like that, I had launched myself into a new medium and put my work out into the world. When my fellow students returned from their day of work, I showed them what I’d made. We ate dinner together, sharing laughs and stories from our days. When the weight of our eyelids were too great, we split off to our respective beds for a peaceful night of sleep.
The next day was a saturday. We ventured into town to do laundry, get groceries, and eat pizza. That night, I felt like I had good enough of a grasp on the basics to take my own stab at wire wrapping, without the helping hand of a tutorial. I put on some music, cracked open a beer, and went at it, wrapping two stones into pendants. The remaining weeks in Taos proceeded with most of my evenings spent wrapping jewelry. It all started so simply; wrapping stones I found on hikes, and posting photos online. Pretty quickly I realized how much I enjoyed this medium. It was engaging, challenging, and so fun. Thinking in 3 dimensions felt so stimulating that I could find myself working for hours and losing track of time.
It was a new, profound expansion of the whole reason I did art; to feel at peace, to flow, and to make something with my hands. I’ve always loved watching my ideas translate into reality, and jewelry somehow amplified that love. This medium had spontaneously and easefully dusted off a dream of being a working artist that I’d been returning to over and over again throughout my life. This vision had drifted to the back of my mind over the last few years, but suddenly it was present and alive as ever. This dream demanded my attention, and so I gave it loving curiosity and presence. I nurtured it in Taos.
In the beginning of September 2022, I left Taos and went home to Colorado. I decided to dedicate 1 year to showing up for this art form and this business venture. I didn’t set any goals, or objectives beyond showing up daily and weekly. I spent September working on jewelry and on making my bus more comfortable. I celebrated my birthday with my family. Then came October 4th, and I left again to travel west with a good friend, him in his simple camper van, me in by bus. I spent most of October traveling, exploring, and wire wrapping my way across the south west; Colorado, Utah, Nevada, southern California, all amazing backdrops for my new creative venture. This trip was planned to be 6+ weeks. Then, with the same clarity I felt in Taos when I started making jewelry, I felt the need to go home. I cut the trip short just 3 weeks in. I was ready to get home, to create in my studio, and work on my business. I was called home to lean in to all the new things I was exploring.
I drove straight home to Colorado from southern California. A trip that had taken us a week and a half on the way out, I backtracked over just 2 long days of driving. The whole drive my mind was energized, my focus set on this abstract, joyful mission to commit myself to jewelry for 1 year. When I got home I did just that; I spent much of my freetime making pendants, rings, earrings, cuffs, and even began accepting custom work. I was amazed how quickly the support flowed in, people wanting to purchase the rings and pendants I was making, hiring me to wrap their stones into custom pieces, and encouraging me every step of the way.
One year quickly passed. I changed “day jobs” 2 times; construction worker to geospatial technician to restaurant host. I made numerous new pieces of jewelry, and somehow made around $1000 doing it! Each week I learned more and more about the craft, about business, and about myself, and about where I wanted to take this art and business. I stayed focussed, and it paid off.
Now at the time of this writing, I’m over 2 years into this journey. As of May I have been working almost 30-40 hours per week on this passion. The transformations that I’ve gone through, the things I’ve learned, and the things I’ve created, are such a gift. The pursuit of this passion has been the best decision of my life to date. I never imagined my life following this path. 3 years ago I never would have even considered making jewelry as a path to walk. Now, it’s the only one I can imagine being on. These days, I often think about my younger self. That young boy who at 10 sold duct tape wallets for a total of $60 in one summer, who at 12 sold handmade walking sticks for a total of $120 one summer, and at 17 sold his first drawing for $30 to his art teacher, would be so proud and joyful to see me now. I look back to all the times I considered being a full time artist, and for some reason or another, shelved the idea, and over and over again had the idea dusted off and brought back to the front of my mind.
This story about Taos is one of the big pivots among many, many pivots and experiences that landed me walking the path that you see me on. Being open to the world is what allowed me to hear my intuition and to guide me down this creative journey. Being open to the universal guidance, call it creator, god, spirit, mystery, or the universal energy, has allowed me to experience serendipity that changed my life in more profound ways than I could ever have planned for myself. If I hadn’t listened to my intuition to take time off to travel and then change majors in college, I wouldn’t have studied the Earth and found a love for sustainable construction. I wouldn’t have followed that curiosity to go volunteer building earthships, nor met that old metalsmith who unknowingly planted the seed of my desire to make jewelry myself. If I hadn’t listened to those knowing words, whispering, “I need to start making jewelry”, I wouldn’t have wrapped that first ring, started my Shopify, and would never have dedicated myself to that year of open hearted commitment to this craft. 2 years later, and who knows where I would be now? Maybe somewhere equally profound and beautiful, but who’s to know? All I know is I wouldn’t trade this path for anything.
Yes, this is a story about my origins as a jewelry designer. It’s also a story that I hope invites you to listen to your quietest feelings with a renewed curiosity. Those whispers of knowing, questioning, and tugs one way or another, are there to guide you somewhere more beautiful than you can imagine.
Yes, this story is about how I listened to my soul's guidance and found a beautiful path once hidden from view. It is also a story with an open ending, and I suppose the only thing to do now is to keep writing the story that I want to read and share with the world. Until my story concludes, I’m excited to live its pages.