Lynn Nafey Designs

Stow, Massachusetts

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"I've always loved making things, especially using unusual materials. I remember as a child making a piece of jewelry by melting crayons into a glass of water. I'm not sure I was old enough to be playing with matches, but nonetheless, I had this cool multicolored form, that I then finished with a coat of nail polish. I loved the surprise element of the color combinations and how the nail polish deepened the colors.

This memory is particularly striking to me because it is a foreshadowing of my current techniques. Color is still a main feature of my work. I use a multi-layered silkscreen process to apply both transparent and opaque enamel paints to aluminum and brass. All patterns are my original designs, and the color formulas are intricately mixed to achieve just the right shades. A final coat of lacquer is applied for durability. I use a variety of materials in combination with the colored pieces including 24K goldplated brass, textured aluminum, gemstone beads, and various goldfilled, sterling silver, and brass elements. Earwires are 14K goldfilled or sterling silver, and posts are surgical steel.

Although I did take some jewelry courses in college, my main focus was sculpture. I graduated from Boston University with a BFA in Sculpture in 1983, where we mostly modeled the human figure in clay. After college, I had more questions than answers about who I was as an artist, so I explored several creative avenues including caricatures, silkpainting, illustration, and puppetmaking. At that time I also began making jewelry. The sky was the limit as far as materials. I used mirror, glass, string, paint, silk thread, Plexiglas, copper, and even springs. These early pieces were not very practical, but it was a start and I was having fun. Something just clicked as I made one piece after another. My work evolved quickly with the exposure I got through stores and craft shows.

One fortuitous day, I stumbled upon the concept of the "moveable pin". I had loosely pinned some shapes together in a haphazard way, intending to eventually glue them in some interesting position once found. Instead, I discovered many interesting positions, just by turning this one grouping. I decided it would be a great idea to make my pins "moveable", so that customers could wear them a different way each time.

These days my goal is to create well-designed, affordable and unique jewelry. Each piece is handmade by me in my Massachusetts studio. I do hope the fun I have making jewelry is somehow reflected into the lives of those that wear my pieces."

Earrings and Company has more of Lynn Nafey's jewelry available at our Freeport Maine jewelry store.