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Wendy Newman lives in Moab, Utah with her
husband Mike, and their black lab
Zeke. Originally from eastern Virginia, Wendy
received a BFA in jewelry design
from VCU in 1981. After that she served
an apprenticeship under a master goldsmith while working as a bench
jeweler in
fine jewelry stores. Wendy’s
award-winning jewelry has been featured in many gallery shows and has
been
displayed at fine art and craft shows across the country.
Artists Statement
I see my jewelry
pieces as a spot on the timeline of the history of metalsmithing.
I use ancient fabrication techniques and
stonesetting combined with technological imagery that I feel will date
my work
to the turn of this century generations from now.
Colored stones are an
important element in my work. I am a
lapidary, as well as a metalsmith, and I cut most of my
cabachons.
I’ve been “rock hounding” since I was a
child, and it’s become one of my favorite pastimes. It is always
a challenge for me to balance
the visual weight of the stone with the complexity of the metal
work.
It also provides a visual irony between the
organic quality of the stone and the industrial quality of the
metalwork. This is the balance of my life,
hiking in the
red rock canyons and working on the computer.
Presently, all my
pieces are one-of-a-kind and fabricated from sheet and wire. I
work in 14k gold and higher and sterling
silver. I specialize in piercing, giving
the jewelry a feel of “modern filigree”. All
the work is done by myself only in my Moab,
UT studio.
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