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Gallery Moab welcomes new artist
Wendy Newman Fine Art Jewelry
Wendy Newman lives in Moab, Utah with her husband Mike, and their yellow lab, Sugar. Originally from eastern Virginia, Wendy received a BFA in jewelry design from VCU in 1981. After that she served an apprenticeship under a master goldsmith while working as a bench jeweler in fine jewelry stores. Wendy’s award-winning jewelry has been featured in many gallery shows and has been displayed at fine art and craft shows across the country.
I see my jewelry pieces as a spot on the timeline of the history of metalsmithing. I use ancient fabrication techniques and stonesetting combined with technological imagery that I feel will date my work to the turn of this century generations from now.
Colored stones are an important element in my work. I am a lapidary, as well as a metalsmith, and I cut most of my cabachons. I’ve been “rock hounding” since I was a child, and it’s become one of my favorite pastimes. It is always a challenge for me to balance the visual weight of the stone with the complexity of the metal work. It also provides a visual irony between the organic quality of the stone and the industrial quality of the metalwork. This is the balance of my life, hiking in the red rock canyons and working on the computer.
Presently, all my pieces are one-of-a-kind and fabricated from sheet and wire. I work in sterling silver and 18k gold. I specialize in piercing, giving the jewelry a feel of “modern filigree”. All the work is done by myself only in my Moab, UT studio.
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