Meet Sarah Stanton, a jewelry artist working in her rural home studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Stanton is taking one step at a time back to jewelry making while balancing work and time with her family. Her love for metalworking began with her father in his metal shop as a girl and you?can see how Sarah is having fun experimenting with her materials and playing with a wide variety of techniques through her wearable artworks.
What is your artistic background?
Sarah Stanton (SS): Growing up in a family of makers, both of my parents were always busy working on some creation or another. My father owned his own sheet metal business and my favorite memories are of wandering around his metal shop and working on projects by his side. I have no formal training in silversmithing or art in general, just years and years of experimenting and my love of working with metals.
What is your favorite materials to work with?
SS: I love working with silver, because of its soft and adaptable qualities. A few processes I enjoyed the most are stamping the metal sheets to create interesting patterns, aging old perforated steel from my father’s metal shop, and creating a lovely distressed look on silver with a collection of antique cobbler’s hammers I found.
What is the thought process behind your work?
SS: When I make jewelry, I am always thinking about the lines and patterns. Starting with line drawings, I either create jewelry pieces with contrasting architectural lines and shapes or adorning the metal surfaces with those elements. After getting the forms and decorative elements completed, I will then patina the silver to accentuate the pattern and lines. I love the idea of wearable art. Handcrafted jewelry can give the wearer a quiet statement of style and aesthetic.
Where do you draw your inspiration?
SS: My inspirations come from textures, such as the bark on trees, the patterns on the underside of mushrooms, and the naturally-aged patina on metal.
What challenges have you faced?
SS: I struggle to focus on one thing at a time! With a passion in collecting metals, supplies, and found objects to incorporate in my art, there are never enough hours in the day to make all of the things I’ve been planning.
What do you do to de-stress?
SS: I live in the woods, and I love to take my dogs for walks and hang out on the deck with a fire in my chiminea.
Combining a modern and architectural style with vintage and patina aesthetics, Stanton’s jewelry is simple and elegant. Each piece of her pieces reflects a merging of the very old with a very modern and industrial styling. Stanton’s work is now available?at?Contemporary Craft’s Holiday Pop-Up Store in Lawrenceville (visit us at 5126 Butler Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15201)!
