"Jewelry making has been a formational journey for me that started in a dark time in my life and continues to evolve."
Hello, I'm Emma and I’m honored to be the maker behind items that are treasured and represent your story. Jewelry making has been a formational journey for me that started in a dark time in my life and continues to evolve.
After losing my boyfriend in a car accident, my jewelry making classes turned into therapy. He was just gone and I was left picking up the pieces to what I thought my life was going to be. Metalsmithing changed me. My classes were healing me. They allowed me to work through my grief and create as I navigated life without him. I became passionate about my work and fell in love with the techniques and processes of this important craft.
I studied both here and in Florence, Italy and graduated from Grand Valley State University in 2017 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts. My education was the perfect springboard into the world of jewelry. Now, I am completely immersed in metalsmithing and am excited to share that I was the 2019 Halstead Grant Award Winner -a prestigious national grant for emerging jewelry artists.
I enjoy working with bold lines, angular organics, and fabricating dimensional geometrics to create modern elegance. Every single piece is made to standout, and meant to encourage, uplift and build confidence. Whether it’s a piece from my collection or bespoke work, I love challenging myself creatively.
My loss fiercely grounds my work. We all have stories… we all have the hard stuff. You can hide it or choose to share it with others. That is one of the reasons I do this-to connect with people, share my story and hope that my path to jewelry making can be an example of what happens when you open yourself up to being led in spite of your grief.
Want to learn more about me?
I think it is my calling to share my full story. To help me do that, I met with Ashley Wierenga, a local lifestyle blogger. After reading just one of her blog posts, I knew she was the one to write my story.
To read more about Emma Elizabeth Jewelry and how it came to be click the button below to be redirected to Sincerely, Ashley and her beautiful letter to the world.
Meet the Artist Interviews:
