Shelly Birch - New Artist for Santa Fe Trail Jewelry
May 2009 brought a new artist to the store. I am always hunting for new and inspiring work for my customers. I invited Shelly to come in and show me her collection titled “Stone” and I had no trouble picking 30 one-of-a-kind pieces. I sold 6 pieces in the first few days!
She has designed and created jewelry since she was a young child. Her first jewelry gallery show was at the age of 18. She is a recent honors graduate of Laguna College of Art and Design. When Shelly’s not traveling around the world, she spends her time in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.
The sterling silver jewelry incorporates stones she hand selected, or in some cases had custom carved for her, on her journey. Today Shelly buys many of her stones directly from the miners in Colorado and enjoys cutting, polishing and doing the lapidary work herself.
Shelly travels to the tropical island of Bali, in Indonesia, several times a year where she works side-by-side with many talented metal smiths and their families in remote villages to produce her one-of-a-kind pieces. A purchase of Stone jewelry helps boost the economy and well being of the recently hard-hit Balinese people.
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