Sarah Tector X Jenny Southern STJS27

Alma's is honored to host these one of a kind pieces during for our Holiday 2022 season. 

These experiments started simply with “hey I think I can stitch something into those earrings”. Color and pattern in a two dimensional structure were our beginning design influences. The metal shapes always come first, with the beads as a reaction to the positive and negative spaces.

Then “what if we went bolder” took over. After seeing the possibilities of movement and shape as they were worn, coloring “outside of the lines” felt like the logical next step. Evolving from tight, structured, and flat, to loosely draped and free of a sense of directionality. The asymmetric drape of a web on a crisp pair of circular earrings. Or the flow of beads snaking through a selection of sculptural rings. Instead of being mere frames supporting beadwork, this collection aims to marry the lines between metal and glass.

Through random happenstance (and a few dozen mozzarella stix) a beautiful friendship between two metalsmiths was formed in Raleigh, NC, in 2010. Treating it as small-scale sculpture, Sarah creates jewelry that is clean and geometric with architectural influences. Jenny, though, focuses her energy on textile inspired pieces utilizing bead weaving and crochet, drawing inspiration from the role nature plays in human adornment. Together, Sarah’s linear structures and Jenny’s elegant textures make a harmonious blend of metal and glass.

sterling silver xtr sm (20g) round hoop with (18g) top cross bar (slight curve) earring; black glass bugle and cube bead loose loops