Susan Richter O'Connell Jewelry

I've always experienced the world through the eyes of a mover and a maker. It is how I learn. It is how I best communicate.

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Over 30 yrs. ago, while pursuing my first career as a modern dancer, I also began to dabble in jewelry making. Between rehearsal calls, I could often be found creating pieces of jewelry using my beach treasures, beads and wire. For me, the beauty of dance was  collaboration, whereas jewelry making's journey was solitary. This newly developing expression took me out of the frenetic urban environments where I lived, to places of quiet natural beauty where I collected the found treasures that would become the center pieces of much of my jewelry work. Gradually, over many years, these 2 creative passions shifted in importance and I became primarily a metalsmith and only an occasional, yet enthusiastic, dabbler in dance!

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My original impetus for making  jewelry was born out of practicality, a desire to find a way to carry with me the treasures that I found on my adventures... the beach stones, shells, twigs, moss and sea glass were tangible reminders of these fortifying journeys.  

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Tho my jewelry pieces are often complicated constructions, my designs are clean and direct and are often about finding inconspicuous ways of elevating a found element.

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My pieces are a way for me to engage in a dialogue, share experiences and remember our connections in this grand universe.

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