Marilyn Hodges
Jewelry
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Nurse by day, wire artist by night. When the snow melted on the ski slopes of North Carolina, my late husband and I searched for some activity to occupy us for the 2 weeks we had scheduled to ski. We discovered gem stones in one of those “flume mine” operations. And really really got hooked.
My husband was entranced with the cutting and polishing and we purchased equipment. I bought a book, “How to Make Wire Jewelry” to find some way to make the cut stones he was producing into something wearable. So, I am a self-taught artesian. I had never even seen any wirewrapped jewelry! I found the book in a gem shop while buying stones for my husband to cut.
I took the finished products to work to show my co-workers the fruits of our new hobby and they loved it. So, I started giving out pieces of jewelry as gifts and thank you for jobs well done by my staff. Friends of my staff then started requesting I make them things and the hobby started getting expensive as the amount of wire I was going through had become significant.
One thing led to another and I started doing art shows. South Florida abounds with art shows and craft shows in the winter months. Over the years I was honored to win several wonderful awards, a great balm to one’s ego and self esteem.