Today we’d like to introduce you to Jennifer Walker
Hi Jennifer, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Jennifer Walker first came into contact with metalsmithing and jewelry making in high school at a Saturday class for teens at what was then the Portland School of Art in Portland Maine in 1990. “I was always interested in drawing and art but those classes were full and I took a jewelry class and instantly fell in love with being able to just make functional pieces of adornment from sheet and wire with just some tools , a torch and my own hands and it was then that I decided to become a jeweler..”
Jennifer attended Parsons School of Design in New York City for two years, where she studied with renowned artist and enamel pioneer Rebecca Laskin, and completed her BFA in Metalsmithing and Jewelry Making at the Maine College of Art. After returning to Manhattan in 1997, she worked as a Local 1 plumber for a decade, before moving to St. Louis with her family. There, realizing her dream of developing her own jewelry line, she founded Jenny Walker Jewelry in 2011. Her work is sold at museum gift shops and boutiques across the country , on her website and at art fairs.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Well, paying the rent and paying back school loans after graduating art school was my biggest challenge and it shifted my perspective on a career you could say. Being a jewelry designer and artist took a back seat in the decade that followed art school. But I regret nothing and am grateful for everything that has led me to where I am right now.
We’ve been impressed with Jenny Walker Jewelry, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I design and make a line of handcrafted jewelry inspired by floral and botanical themes. The material that gives my work the vibrant color is vitreous enamel which is powdered glass fired to metal in several layers. I work in all metals and materials such as semi precious/precious stones, silver, gold, copper, brass and wood.
I maintain a studio in St. Louis which is open by appointment and where I work every day unless Im at an art fair or at wholesale market. My work can be found at museum gift shops and boutiques nationally including the Baltimore Museum of Art, The Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, The Museum of Art and Design in New York among others.
Locally my work is represented at Union Studio in Webster Groves, Urban Matter on Grand, the Contemporary Art Museum, Bluestem Gallery in Columbia MO, and this spring in the St Louis Art Museum gift shop.
Any big plans?
Nothing new just another season of art fairs and making work to fullfill orders to stores. In February and March I am selling my work at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show in Seattle and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Philadelphia Flower Show March 1-9 – the nations largest and longest running horticultural event. I look forward to doing a mix of local art fairs and making new work. Im exited to be in the St Louis Art Museum gift shop in time for the exhibit “Art in Bloom” which is a beautiful exhibit of flower arrangements inspired by works of art in the Museum.
Pricing:
- my median price is $60
- My price range is $40-400
- my fine jewelry prices are $450-1500
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jennywalkerjewelry.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennywalkerjewelry/
