PEGGY CARTER Peggy Carter has been designing jewelry for over 20 years in her North Carolina foothills studio. She describes her jewelry as modern eclectic, combining the old with the new. Peggy loves to play with the color of her beads as they are her “painter’s” palette. Many of her necklaces evolve around a centerpiece. It’s not so much about how she decides to string her beads as it is the feeling Peggy gets when putting colors and pieces together and knowing that it is the right combination. Her designs are original one-of-a-kind works.
TIM GARVIN Durham, NC artist, Tim Garvin, is creator of handcrafted porcelain earrings, reversible pendants and bracelets in the millefiori technique with accents of silver and pearl. The extreme detail and intense color in Tim’s ceramic work results from the use of over 500 different colors of clay in an ancient technique known as millefiori.
NANCY GIERE Creator of dichroic art glass jewelry, Nancy Giere, began her journey in glass fusing as way to unwind from the stresses of running a busy consulting practice. This medium allows her to create dynamic, vibrant unique pieces that make a bold statement. Different sizes and shapes of glass are stacked in unique designs and fired in a kiln at 1450 degrees. During the fusing process, the glass comes alive and takes on a whole new character. After the first firing, the glass is cold worked and fire polished multiple times until Nancy is satisfied with the shape and quality of each piece. The type, size and color of the glass in each piece reacts with subtle variances, and like snowflakes, results in truly unique creations of beauty.
THOMAS KUHNER Thomas Kuhner of New Hampshire creates fine handwrought sterling silver jewelry. Each piece is carefully formed in precious metals using traditional centuries-old techniques. Constructed pieces evolve from simple and natural patterns found everywhere from shells in the sea to molecular patterns in the world of the atom.
PATRICIA LOCKE Self-taught Chicago native Patricia Locke has been designing fashion jewelry since 1979. Her designs are fabricated in antiqued 24K gold or sterling silver plate over bronze and pewter. Her jewelry uses a wide variety of semi-precious stones, Austrian crystals and pearls.
SHIRLEY PRICE Drawn to the quiet balance of the Asian culture and inspired by beautiful colored stones gathered on trips around the world, California artist Shirley Price creates her fine silver jewelry “to reflect a woman’s innate individuality, beauty and mystery.”
FRANK TUURI Western North Carolina artist Frank Tuuri uses the finest dichroic glass available in his jewelry. Each sheet of glass is carefully formulated and fired in the kiln several times before a piece of jewelry is completed. His signature look is unlike anything in the marketplace.
JOHN and LINDA WHITNEY Since the early 1970’s John and Linda Whitney have been using the traditional methods of metalsmithing to present their own interpretations of objects of adornment that have been treasured by their customers for years. Handcrafted in their Florida studio, the mixed metal jewelry is hand fabricated from brass, copper and nickel silver sheet and wire and cast parts using forming, soldering, forging, casting and texturing techniques. “For over forty years we have continued to be stimulated and challenged by new material and techniques that we have incorporated into the designing of our jewelry. To be able to work every day in an artistic endeavor is a privilege and a joy.”
