APRIL | ARTIST OF THE MONTH | JENNIE LORETTE KEATTS
Above left: Jennie, photo credit: Paul Church | Above right:GreenHill's very own Laura Maruzzella wearing Jennie's Peachbloom earrings, photo credit: Toni Tronu
TURNING MUD INTO GEMSTONES
Jennie Lorette Keatts has been displaying with GreenHill since 2009 and there is something extra special that sets her apart from the rest of our jewelry artists- she hand makes her stones. How, you ask? She makes pottery cabochons by layering glazes and creating one of kind stones that mimic natural stones. Sometimes it is very hard to distinguish which stones are made by Jennie and which are naturally occurring, COOL!
"My love of working with metals and wearable art is fueled by the stones I create, which become the focal point of my JLK Jewelry line” - Jennie
Although jewelry has always been a fascination of Jennie's, it was not a career focus until 1999. She was working in the tourism industry in the 90's and traveling worldwide. This led to a growing interest in jewelry. As she visited many hand craft shops in places such as Japan and Korea she was heavily inspired by the Asian influence, which is reflected in much of her current work. In a roundabout way she found her path to Jugtown Pottery, owned by her sister and brother in law. Her sister urged her to take a basic metalsmithing class and she began tinkering with pottery sherds and glaze drips for Jugtown. From there she was hooked! She quit her job, moved to Seagrove and pursued her dream of designing jewelry at Jugtown Pottery.
Above left:Horse Necklace in Cobalt | Above right: Etched Turquoise Dangles
Above left: Garnet and 14K ASN Dangles | Above right: Three Ring Turquoise Necklace
To see more of Jennie's work visit The Shop at GreenHill or check out her website here.