Julie Merrill

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JulieMerrill
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JewelryJL Merrill Metalworks
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I specialize in mixed metal jewelry and accessories, using steel, silver, brass, bronze, and copper. Through forging, fusing, soldering, and riveting, I create ancient yet contemporary designs. I incorporate the textures of bones, seeds, stones, feathers, and quills into my metalwork, creating life and story. I also include industrial elements such as clock gears, bullets, keys, and machine parts that juxtapose natures’ sacred beauty and suggest a mysterious curiosity within the human spirit. I create to reveal the quaint ruins of past and ethnic cultures to form objects of protection, beauty, emotion, and narrative.

Asheville
NC

I am the third born of a Northern family, immigrated to the mountains of Western North Carolina over 37 years ago. I was born and raised in the mountains, on a small horse farm surrounded by hundreds of acres of forest. My childhood was filled with a lot of responsibility and fun, with an endless natural world to explore, whether through horses, the wilderness, or the wilderness inside. The years following my high school graduation were filled with exploration of many sorts; some formal studies in anthropology, African Studies and dance, travelling to Africa three times now, Europe, and Central America, as well as within the United States. Upon returning to Asheville, I began studying medicinal plants and soon after jewelry, which then brought me to an interest in larger steel work, both sculptural and functional. The Professional Crafts Program at Haywood Community College, as well as Penland School of Craft and John C. Campbell Folk School brought me to a new level of professionalism and skill, and prepared me to step into greater possibilities within metalworking. I operate my own business in metalworking and find my work to be evolving in success, maturity, and significance. I have increasingly contributed to the metal artist community and worked in the jewelry and blacksmithing field since 2004. I am excited to witness my process of artistic evolution as an artist and a human, contributing to the healing and uplifting of humanity, the earth, and the cosmos.

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