Hand Crafted Fine Jewelry By Judith Kinghorn

Judith Kinghorn is a Minneapolis jewelry designer who works primarily in high karat gold, sterling silver and precious stones. Multi-layered and intricately textured, Judith’s pieces are comprised of heavy layers of sterling silver and 24 karat gold fused together and embossed with hand etched plates. Her designs are typically die formed, fused and granulated in 22 karat gold and are frequently accented with gemstones.

“I am drawn to forms and shapes arising from both the natural and man-made worlds and I seem to store them as an internal inventory,” explains the artist. “My work is about transforming these visual impressions into objects of beauty in gold, silver and precious gemstones.

My process is essentially intuitive and I fabricate directly in the metals without sketches. Then I work responsively to form pieces from an array of the metals and stones. Much like ancient jewelry artists, many of my pieces are made by using a mouth torch to fuse heavy layers of gold and sterling silver. One piece informs the next. Invariably, the pieces evolve into greater complexity from the original idea.

My artistic satisfaction lies in the capture of often-contradictory relationships combined with my love of hand-making and the manipulation of materials. The pieces, in turn, take on lives of their own as I name them and speak about them to my clients and those who inquire about my work. Of great significance is the collaboration between maker and wearer; I don’t consider my work finished until it finds its home with the wearer.”

Judith is the recipient of many honors, including juried ‘Excellence in Jewelry’ awards at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, the Smithsonian Craft Show and the American Craft Council show. Most recently, she won best of show at the Smithsonian Craft2Wear Show. She has been awarded commissions for commemorative pieces to mark the opening of the Frank Gehry designed Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis and recognition pieces for the National Association of Women Judges.

For more info go to : www.judithkinghorn.com