This week’s jewelry artist is Sherry Truitt.She works in silver, one of my favourite materials, and of late,she has been working with PMC (precious metal clay) and Art Clay Silver (I assume that’s the brand; those are the only two I know of).
PMC is a new product that’s come out in
the past few years. I would love to try it out myself but I have not as of yet because, according to my husband (who is really so lovely and supportive, I love him to death) I am not allowed to take on any new hobbies until I earn enough to enable us to buy a bigger house to store my evergrowing arts and crafts related stash of materials. I guess he has a point…
Back to the topic at hand. Sherry has kindly answered my probing questions. Here are the results of our by email interview:
Tell me a little bit about your work:
I've been crafting since my first set of tinker toys. I then moved on to erector sets. I
especially loved making motorized windmills. I craft jewelry, wearable art and small functional sculpture in a paradoxical way. Every day objects such as spirit levels, watch parts and typewriter keys mix with aluminum silver and copper.
I love the spirit levels. Such a neat idea. I really like the PMC pieces too.
I currently do much of my work in silver art clay 
or PMC. It is fine silver (.999) in an organic base. Once formed anddried it is fired in a 1600 degree kiln and the finished product is a fine silver piece finished with traditional metalsmithing techniques. I also mix it with glass and other metals.
How do you find inspiration for your pieces?
Every day objects stimulate my creativity. I always carry a small moleskinegraph paper journal with me to capture new ideas.
Images of war inspired my "hunger" series that supports Doctors without Borders. Those map pins sold out in a matter of days.
The idea of a graph was the starting point for my fine silver tulip necklace. It is a mix of ideas: silver, tulips, and the idea of the graph itself.
I am always interested in how and where artists work. Tell me about where you live and work. Do you have a studio?
I have an attic studio in my home, although my kiln is in the basement. Running 3 floors is how I get my exercise.
I live in a craftsman bungalow with my husband, son and a Jack Russell Terrier named Zorro. We live in a small town in
A lot of my readers either sell their jewelry, or want to know more about how to sell jewelry. Where do you sell yours?
During the summer, I sell my work at a few seasonal galleries. The rest of the time, I sell on Etsy and Mintd. Although, I have only been on Etsy a few months, I love it.
I bet you have other crafts and hobbies on the go like the rest of us artsy craftsy people. What else do you do?
In my spare time I'm learning to felt and this fall I'll be taking a new metalsmithing class. I love swimming and the beach with my family. It's truly a joy to work at home!
I so agree with that! Staying home was the best decision I ever made after my first child was born. I love working at home too.
Any words of wisdom for other aspiring artists?
Create what you love, never stop learning and you will be successful.
Resources from this article:
Sherry Truitt’s work is for sale on Etsy: sherrytruitt.etsy.com
Her work is for sale on Mintd too! Click here for Sherry's Mintd Shop
Read her blog!: sosherry.blogspot.com
Comment from Christine: I never heard of Mintd before, but it seems like a site worth checking out. From a quick glance it seems to be similar to Etsy, not as easy to navigate, but free to list. They just take a bigger cut (7.5%) if you do sell anything. If you don't sell anything it costs you nothing. Anyone have any experiences to share about Mintd?
4 comments:
Very interesting interview. I truly enjoy reading about other artists' inspirations. Keep up the good work!
Loved reading the interview, and sherry - your work is amazing!
quick comment about mintd; i also have a shop there. it looks a very promising site, a bit buggy but growing and improving. they have some new ideas for selling/marketing on the site which are intriguing e.g. lookbooks.
it's definitely worth checking out!
Thanks to both of you, it's such a pleasure to do what you love, isn't it? I agree, mintd is a bit buggy, but I think it's an interesting site and now that Simone is working there, I think it will be wonderful.
Also, if you just want to get your feet wet, a basic subscrition to list 3 items is FREE!
Im so glad I came acrss your blog, because I love reading about other artists and where they find inspiration! Keep up the good work!
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