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Water Bufalo

SUSAN WALKER

My favorite sentiment concerning how an individual should buy and wear jewelry comes from a familiar quote by Coco Chanel and it goes something like this:
"Jewelry isn't meant to make you look rich, it is meant to adorn you."

I take that to mean that the jewelry ones chooses to wear is in effect a way to telegraph to others something about themselves without uttering a word. It belies a feeling of confidence rather than a need to be recognized. It comes from a place of power rather than insecurity. It is unaffected and a true definition of personal style. This is the sort of woman I hope to appeal to in my work.

I design and hand-fabricate every item that comes out of my studio. I believe my clients recognize an intangible essence in each piece because of this. I must admit that I am compelled to work in this manner. I am a tactile and impatient sort and the idea of sending my designs on paper off to an anonymous craftsperson to have it assembled and fininshed over a period of weeks or even months does not appeal to my nature.
I get the idea for a piece in my mind after assessing the raw materials available to me (metals, loose stones, pearls, semi-precious beads and found objects from nature) and set about making of it right away so that I may hold the finished object in my hands as soon as humanly possible. I work fast after having labored in this way for more years than I care to mention and can produce a fairly substantial amount of work in a given period of time.

The hopeful result is a sort of collaboration between creator and wearer that makes a comment about who that wearer might be before the conversation starts. And of course to make her feel irresistibly interesting and glamorous.

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