(Jewelry by Suzy Williamson)

Suzy Williamson has been fashioning jewelry professionally for almost 30 years, yet she still finds ways to innovate and expand her signature style. “I try a lot of new things,” she says. “I have more ideas than I’ll ever make in my lifetime.”  She is a showcase artist in July at Red Chair Gallery.

Williamson’s designs all speak to her love of pattern and texture. Currently she is exploring fusing, a process that allows metals to be joined together by melting the opposing surfaces without the use of solder. She creates compositions with varying shapes and contrasting colors of high carat gold and silver, which are then used to craft each individual piece. Texture is added by roll printing and a patina is often incorporated to highlight the texture.  “I love watching as the surfaces begin to shimmer and the metals begin to fuse,” she remarks. “It’s easy to overheat and melt everything. I feel that I have just touched the surface of the possibilities of this technique.”

Williamson frequently uses pearls or gemstones as accents on her pendants and earrings or as the principal element of her rings. She seeks out stones from small lapidarists who do unusual cuts or types of gems. Some of her current favorites include Oregon sunstone, gem silica and blue and green chalcedony. “It’s all about creativity, creating something that makes you stand out from the crowd,” she explains.

Williamson has a deep connection with Central Oregon. When she was ten, her family moved from the Bay Area to a 500-acre cattle ranch in Terrebonne. She grew up riding horses and participating in 4-H, as well as learning crafts such as knitting and sewing. Her path to metalsmithing started, astonishingly, with a job right out of high school as a dental technician in Redmond. There she was trained to make the gold work for crowns and bridges, learning metal working fundamentals. Jewelry exploration began after taking a silversmithing class during a time she lived in Alaska in 90’s.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, she sold her jewelry at Red Chair Gallery and at juried art fairs around the West. But from 2020-22, she was forced to stay close to home as those events were cancelled. She began teaching metalsmithing both privately and at DIY Cave in Bend, and also participated in the Saturday Northwest Crossing farmers’ market. Both of these activities allowed her to connect more with the local community and generate custom work. “Teaching was especially rewarding,” she says. “Jewelry making is a huge field with so much to learn. I was surprised to realize that I had accumulated quite a bit of knowledge over the years and had so much fun seeing the excitement in my students as they had success trying techniques for the first time.”

Now Williamson is returning to juried art fairs. She will be at traveling to shows in Utah, Colorado, Idaho and California this summer. She is also excited to have been invited to participate in Art in the High Desert which is returning to Central Oregon for the first time since the pandemic. It will be held August 25-27, at the Deschutes County Fair and Expo Center.

suzywilliamson.com • suzy@suzywilliamson.com • redchairgallerybend.com