Meet the makers while shopping for beautiful jewelry and stylish accessories – the perfect winter pick-me-up! Bring a friend and enjoy this not-to-be-missed Walker Shop event.
Walker members receive a 10% discount on all purchases.
This Jewelry & Accessory Makers Mart features 29 artists, 20 jewelry artists and 9 accessory designers, each presenting their original, hand-crafted designs.
Featured artists include: Featuring Bird Industries, Willa Burke, Yen Chee, Nicole Collodoro, Forefolk Studio, Madison Holler, Farida Hughes Scarves, Indigo & Snow Accessories, Karin Jacobson, Jlux.co, Annika Kaplan, Britta Kauppila, Tia Keobounpheng, Emily Kisa Design, Les Bags, Makwa Studio, Julie Meyer Handbags, Robin Ann Meyer Scarves, Milkhaus Design, Meghan Nelson, Beth Novak, Robyne Robinson, Scarf Shop, Erin Smith, Barbara Stellmach, Amy Torello, Vikse Jewelry, Helen Wang, and Wazo Design.
The Walker Art Center Jewelry & Accessory Makers Mart Takes Place on Saturday, November 4, 11 am – 5 pm in the Skyline Room.
All proceeds support the Walker’s artistic and educational programs.
Walker Art Center’s Jewelry & Accessory Makers Mart:
Saturday Nov. 4th, 11am – 5pm
Skyline Room
Member Mimosa Preview: Jewelry & Accessory Makers Mart:
Saturday Nov. 4, 10 – 11 am
Skyline Room, Free
RSVP at walkerart.org/memberevents or call 612.375.7655
Photo: Tia Keobounpheng
Featured Artists
Willa Burke Wilson – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Materials: Sterling Silver, Semi-Precious Stones
Wilson studied Jewelry and Metalsmithing at Iowa State University and has been creating unique pieces of jewelry ever since. She loves to work with her hands by piercing, sawing, etching and soldering the metal. She finds inspiration from shapes that she sees in everyday life, and tries to recreate her favorite shapes in abstract ways with unexpected details. In her off time, she enjoys traveling and spending time with her family.
Yen-Ying Chee – Yen Chee Design, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Materials: sterling silver, quartz crystal, onyx and tourmalinated quartz
Yen-Ying Chee has always been drawn to creating clean, unique, modern jewelry. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Boston University, as well as a bachelor of science in interior design from the University of Minnesota. Prior to working as a full-time jewelry designer and mom, she worked as a commercial interior designer at architecture firms for over a decade. These experiences greatly influenced the “miniature sculptures” she creates. Besides being inspired by her travels, furniture, and architecture, her designs often come from a deeper spiritual place within. Chee is especially drawn to working with clear quartz crystals due to their natural beauty and healing properties. Clear quartz, known as “universal crystals”, are completely natural and from the earth, believed for centuries to attract positive energy that enhances the mind, body and spirit.
Barbara Stellmach – Seventh & Stone, Two Harbors, Minnesota
Materials: metal, sterling silver, resin, spray paint, precious and semi-precious stones
Barbara Stellmach is a self-taught metalsmith who works primarily with sterling silver. She incorporates precious and semi-precious stones such as Lake Superior stones, laminate, resin, spray paint, Keum-boo, filament, and fiber into her designs. Stellmach draws inspiration from the materials she works with, mid-century design, and the great Northwoods that surround her. Clean lines, texture, color and movement also play a role in much of her work. Stellmach currently resides in Two Harbors with her husband and their two little girls. There, in her childhood home, she owns and operates a small gift shop (Seventh & Stone) showcasing her work.
Beth Novak – Beth Novak Enamels, St. Louis Park, Minnesota
Materials: enamel on copper, sterling silver
Beth Novak grew up in an extremely artistic home believing that one could look at anything as inspiration. Originally from Wisconsin, she attended the University of Wisconsin-Stout and received a degree in Studio Art, with a concentration in art metals. Beth has since lived in St. Louis Park for the last 17 years, and after experimenting with many different mediums, she has returned to her first love: metals. Her works include enamel on copper and sterling silver. She loves to explore texture and color, and finds that both silver and copper allow her to do so. Novak often manipulates the copper before enameling it, to accentuate the layers and texture under the enamel. The patina she finishes her pieces off with is quite durable and has a wonderful depth of color.
Robyne Robinson – ROX Jewelry, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Materials: semi-precious stones, pearl, sterling silver, brass
Robyne Robinson creates exotic, one-of-a-kind, affordable jewelry created with semi-precious stone, pearl, and artisan brass and silver. They are made for men and women for the environmentally conscious consumer. Her jewelry is sold at exclusive museums, jewelers and boutiques worldwide.
Nicole Collodoro – Saint Paul, Minnesota
Materials: silver, wood, stone, fossils, paper, fabric, clay
Nicole Collodoro grew up in rural Wisconsin and spent most of her youth exploring the surrounding wilderness with her father, who is a geologist. Her background in the outdoors is reflected in the stones and natural materials she uses in her designs. In 2000, she began attending Minneapolis College of Art & Design, where she graduated with a BFA in Sculpture in 2004. Since then, she has focused on creating small scale works and jewelry. Collodoro works and lives in Saint Paul with her husband and two daughters.
Amy Torello – Mexico City, Mexico
Materials: solid sterling, fine silver plated over bronze, 24K gold plated over bronze, or mixed metals over bronze – coated with a clear lacquer to keep the sparkly finish clean and bright. Nickel and lead free.
Amy Torello uses a variety of methods to bring her ideas to life. Embracing both traditional hand-crafting skills as well as modern technologies such as 3D-printing and custom-colored resins, Torello strives to create something that brings true joy to the women who wear her collections. Finding inspiration everywhere, she is particularly fascinated with the relationships between color, texture, movement and form.
Jeannie Trelles – Vikse Designs, Minneapolis, MinnesotaMaterials: semi-precious stones, sterling silver, gold, leather and feathers
Jeannie Trelles first began making jewelry in middle school. What began as a hobby turned into a business when Vikse Designs was born in 2009. Jeannie’s work is influenced by her love of travel, nature, and fashion. As her business has grown, so has her desire to learn new skills and further her ability to realize her creative vision. Since taking metalsmithing and lapidary classes, her work has developed from the beading and crochet work she started out with. She enjoys using a variety of natural materials in her work, including semi-precious stones, sterling silver, gold, leather and feathers.
Annabella Sardelis – Indigo & Snow Accessories, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Materials: organic cotton, sustainable fibers, non-toxic dyes and when possible, materials manufactured in the USA
Connecting handmade work to interest in environmental sustainability is a major focus of Annabella Sardelis’ business. She has been an organic gardener for over 20 years, majored in Environmental Studies in college, and have long worked with natural materials. In creating functional, beautiful items by hand, she uses stones, wood and plants, both foraged and cultivated in her garden. Sardelis chooses to work with organic cotton, sustainable fibers, non-toxic dyes and when possible, materials manufactured in the USA. Her studio is located in the Casket Arts Building in the Northeast Art’s District of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Forefolk Studio – St. Paul, Minnesota
Materials: Wool
Forefolk embraces the importance of adventure. Their work is inspired by both the Earth’s natural beauty and its bustling, historic cities. They also believe that no matter where you go, or how long you’re away, one of the best parts of any adventure is returning to the solace of home. Forefolk’s purpose is to create items that embody both the excitement of adventure and the coziness of home. Each authentic and unique piece is designed and handmade by Forefolk. Whether visiting distant countries or chasing kids in the backyard, Forefolk knitwear will keep anyone cozy.
Farida Hughes Scarves – St. Paul, Minnesota
Materials: Silk, cotton, modal
Farida Hughes works with oil, paint and mixed media, in an abstract, energetic, and colorful style. Her work is in many private and corporate collections, including Target, United Health Group and Chesapeake Capital. Through abstraction, her paintings express the gathering and movement of crowds, often from above, explorations of group relationships, community growth and bonding. A new direction for the artist in 2013, the scarves fulfilled a desire to translate her art into a multiple item, existing parallel to the work in the studio. Visitors to her studio often told Faridathat they wanted to wear her work, and the scarves make that idea a reality. She names the designs for strong, beautiful and influential people, most of them women that she has known. Each design is an original, artist-designed, wearable work of art. The cotton/modal scarves are the newest items to the collection as of 2016-17.
Julie Meyer Handbags – Minneapolis, MinnesotaMaterials: Cowhide, Top-grain leather
Since 2008, Julie Meyer has been crafting bags in small quantities from her Minneapolis studio. Each bag is constructed with skilled workmanship using top grain leather, hair-on cowhides and finished with full interior linings. Meyer enjoys turning raw materials into functional items. Julie Meyer Handbags are designed to be used every day, and to last a lifetime.
Laurie Sorenson – Les Bags, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Materials: waxed canvas, luxurious felted wool, cotton, leather
Les Bags are handmade by Laurie Sorenson, a Minneapolis-based maker with over a decade of experience in making bags, purses, jewelry, and floral designs. After her two sons moved out of the house, she began creating her signature line of canvas tote bags. She experiments with different styles, designs, and unique touches to create a bag that is beautiful to look at and has the durability to stand up to daily wear and tear.
Bird Industries – Minneapolis, MinnesotaMaterials: upcycled bike tubes, fabric, stainless steel beads
Bird Industries was founded to enable women bicycle commuters to seamlessly and fashionably transition from bike, to work and to social settings by developing functional, stylish accessories, and upcycled jewelry. Living in Minneapolis, one of the nation’s top bike cities, owner/designer Amanda Stolle commutes through sun and snow, inspired by the ever-growing community of stylish female bikers. Through her experience in both apparel and graphic design, she has developed and rigorously tested her unique bicycle accessories. Whether it’s with bike tube earrings or reflective jewelry, Bird Industries encourages bikers to live stylishly and be cheeky.
Emily Kisa Design – Wayzata, Minnesota
Materials: lace
Local textile designer Emily Johnson-Kisa collaborates with talented artisan women in Turkey to create modern jewelry using ancient “OYA” lace work techniques.
Madison Holler – St. Cloud, Minnesota
Materials: beads and sterling silver
Born and raised in central Minnesota, Madison Holler works mostly with metals, beads, Minnesota porcupine quills found in nature, beach glass and other organic materials from Minnesota and near her cabin in Ontario, Canada. She also enjoys wood working and carving, baking and sewing.
Karin Jacobson – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Materials: sterling silver, topaz, white quartz and other lab grown gems
Play is a central theme in Karin Jacobson’s futuristic and fun work, which is inspired by science fiction, comic books, mechanical toys and Japanese animation. She likes pieces that make a bold statement. She uses big shapes, clean lines and bright colors. Jacobson’s ultimate goal is to create jewelry that is sculptural, as well as functional. Using materials such as sterling, lab-grown or less expensive gems, she focuses on form and affordable, innovative designs.
Annika Kaplan – Minneapolis, MinnesotaMaterials: sterling silver and semi-precious gemstones
After studying jewelry design and fabrication at the Savannah College of Art and Design and the Minneapolis Community and Technical College, Annika Kaplan set up shop in a small South Minneapolis studio. Influenced by nature and folk traditions, she produces jewelry made mostly from blackened sterling silver and semi-precious gems. She strives to create pieces which are both highly wearable and highly unique, in hopes of offering wearers a new way to adorn themselves.
Britta Kauppila – Britta Lynn Design, Duluth, Minnesota
Materials Used: sterling silver, stones, gold, and pearls
Britta Kauppila hand forms each piece of jewelry she makes by manipulating and shaping metal into pieces that are soft and delicate, but also substantial. Often inspired by nature, she combines form, line, and texture to produce movement, rhythm, and harmony. Kauppila is drawn to the contradiction of the hard, immovable structure that metal offers to create her unique jewelry line.
Tia Keobounpheng – Silver Cocoon, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Materials: wood, acrylic, sterling silver, 14k gold-fill
Fascinated with “things” and how they are made, Tia Keobounpheng incorporates architectural design to create pieces made from wood, acrylic, and metal. Color, texture, repetition and light are important considerations in her work whose forms and compositions respond to the natural and man-made world around her. Practicality and simplicity transcend her work in any medium or scale.
Lindsay Locatelli – Wazo Design, Bloomington, MinnesotaMaterials: polymer clay, sterling silver
Lindsay Locatelli’s process is entirely intuitive – making every piece unique. Each component is mainly hand-sculpted and carved from polymer clay and wood. After fabrication, she applies various finishing techniques such as paint, carving texture and gold-leafing. This part of her process requires many layers of materials and tedious sanding sessions in between. In 2009, Lindsay Locatelli received her BFA in Studio Furniture Design at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD). After graduating, she began creating small-scale functional objects, which led her to art jewelry. Locatelli currently resides in Bloomington, but lived a large portion of her creative career in New Mexico. Her work can be found at Gallery 360 in Edina, MN, Lillstreet in Chicago IL, James May Gallery in Algoma, WI and other various institutions and Art Centers.
Scarf Shop – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Materials: cotton
SCARF SHOP scarves are dyed by hand in small batches in the MAD studio, located in Minneapolis. Low-impact materials and methods are used whenever possible. Kettle dying in small batches with water based dyes gives fabric a rich and mottled appearance. Because each scarf is dyed in small dye lots, a slight color variation will occur from batch to batch.
Makwa Studio – St. Paul, Minnesota
Materials: wool
Makwa Studio was started by Maggie Thompson (Fond Du Lac Ojibwe) in 2014. Makwa pronounced like “Mukwa” means “bear” in the Ojibwe language. Makwa Studio is a creative space with a focus on textiles, art and fashion. Much of the work is influenced by Thompson’s Native heritage where she brings subtle cultural references to her patterns and design work. Makwa strives to use luxury yarns specializing in the use of wool that is sourced from a U.S. mill. Each item is designed, hand-loomed and shipped from the studio in Northeast Minneapolis at the Northrup King Building. Makwa is passionate about creating high-quality made goods, and how its practice contributes to the discussion of contemporary Native art and fashion.
Milkhaus Design – Madison, Wisconsin
Materials: Hand Dyed Cotton, Leather
Bethany Nelson, the creator behind Milkhaus Design, creates pretty and practical items for the individual, family, friends, and homes. She believes every item anyone owns should be stylish, no matter what it is. It’s often the little details that make life just a little bit better and a little bit sweeter. The Milkhaus Design aesthetic is simple, modern and classic. Nelson’s love for the beauty of natural materials is balanced with her love of vibrant and bold colors. All Milkhaus Design screen printed products are printed with her original designs that are inspired by everyday details she notices. All dyed pieces are considered happy accidents, she custom mixes all dyes based on feeling rather than formula and is (almost) always pleasantly surprised at the results.
Meghan Nelson – Dottir Jewelry, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Materials Used: sterling silver, brass
Dottir is a Minneapolis based jewelry line by artist Meghan Nelson. She uses silver and brass to create work that focuses on clean lines, geometric shapes and elegant forms. Ranging from the perfect everyday pair of posts, to the dramatic statement collar, her pieces strive for wearability and functionality. All elements of her jewelry are hand-fabricated in her Seward studio.
Jlux.co – Golden Valley, Minnesota
Materials: sterling silver, brass, niobium, leather, stone, feathers, antlers, etc.
Founded by Minneapolis-based artist Jen Kreilich, J.Lux is a jewelry and accessories brand bred in the north with roots in the west. Kreilich describes her work as a little bohemian with a sophisticated edge and an easy demeanor. Each piece is handmade by Kreilich and typically is one-of-a-kind or from a small batch. Her process is organic, ever-evolving and imperfect by design. Her pieces reflect the individuality and quirks that make us all beautiful.
Erin Smith – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Materials: sterling silver, porcelain, terra cotta and natural fibers
Erin Smith comes from a long line of jewelers and metalworkers (hence the name Smith), but her degree in product design introduced her to a multitude of materials. She has spent the past five years designing for a nationwide retailer, while juggling her own interior and product design jobs on the side. Just recently, she decided to delve into the world of freelance, allowing her to spend all of her time doing what she loves.
Helen Wang – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Materials: semi-precious stones, mixed precious metals
Wang creates each deftly designed, one-of-a kind or limited edition piece with the person who will eventually wear it in mind. Whether it’s a druzy quartz marquis earring or the vintage luxury feel of a genuine Swarovski crystal bridal choker, Wang’s hands create the jewelry to reflect her vision of you.
Robin Ann Meyer Scarves – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Materials: Chiffon Silk
Robin Ann Meyer’s work is heavily influenced by the environment around her. She recieved her Bachelor’s Degree in Design from University College Falmouth in Cornwall, England and Master of Fine Art from La Complutense in Madrid, Spain. For several years she worked in the NYC home fashion and apparel industries as a textile designer for various large-scale manufacturers. Her artistic philosophy is acceptance within persistence. She chose to embrace the old and the new, employing traditional hand-drawn motifs that are then manipulated digitally and printed using the most modern of printing technologies. She loves the digital sphere not only for its extensive versatility, but as a lover of the earth and nature, for its eco-friendliness.
Photo: Milkhaus Design