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Tina Levy |
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Tina Levy
Since my husband and I have relocated to our “forever home” of Tucson, the Sonoran Desert has taken over now, inspiring me with blooming cactus and majestic vistas that run for miles. I enjoy “interrupting” symmetry whenever possible so– as I create artistic beaded jewelry– I have also begun to dabble with beadscapes of my organic surroundings. A business degree was helpful to me as an entrepreneur but what I learned about making jewelry came from watching YouTube. My mom, “Queen Aurora”, was a girly girl, drawn to everything "different", and the first to wear my jewelry creations. From her I learned the value of uniqueness. Since she passed at the age of 94, my move to the Southwest has catapulted me into a brave new world of creativity. I continue to sense her inspiration and to follow her desire for something different. |
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Artistic affinity is hereditary in our family of welders, quilters, and painters. Throughout my childhood in snowbound Maine of the 60’s, I embraced sewing, knitting, crocheting, rug braiding, crewelwork and needlepoint. Transplanting to a warmer climate in 2000, I started my journey as a bead artist in Florida making funky beaded earrings, Cellini reverse spiral pendants, and bracelets of bead crochet, kumihimo, and peyote. Eventually gravitating from humid Florida to the arid, mountainous Mojave Desert of Southern Utah in 2019 I quickly became enamored with textures of earthy, richly colored rock formations streaming from one precipice to the next. Suddenly, I began wire wrapping raw stones from nearby rivers and sculpting “beaded embellishments” using river rock. Since my father smithed ornamental rod iron railings and his father shoed horses circa 1920, I like to believe that, at some level, I have followed in their footsteps by incorporating hammered wire work into my artistry as well.