There’s an undeniable impatience I feel as an artist. Time spent working intensively in clay over the past six years has shaped and changed me as a person. While clay challenges my demand to have ideas come to life quickly, jewelry satisfies both my long and short-term concerns.
I stumbled into jewelry making while experimenting with fusing glass in my kiln a couple of years ago, and I’ve grown to adore it. Complex compositions often begin with a singular idea inspired by abundance—the rich, saturated colors of nature, the shapes of fruits and found objects, or my love of vintage jewelry. When I was younger, my art was tight and controlled like I was. Now, while I’m searching for the boldest pink I can find a stone, or struggling with the surface of a sculpture, I find myself less rigid and unsatisfiable. Working with a silversmith who fabricates the metal components of my jewelry designs, I draw and use wire to make prototypes, sometimes cutting the drawings out of paper to gauge if an idea would work on my body. In all of my works I aim for a high-quality finished product that still addresses my characteristically raw personal aesthetic.
Jamie Stokes is a potter, sculptor, and jewelry maker, born in Louisiana and raised in Oklahoma. She has made her home on the Big Island of Hawai`i for eight years, exhibiting in galleries, teaching from her home studio, and is currently designing and creating jewelry which is sold nationwide.