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Thanks for stopping by! I'm in the process of getting my online gallery and web site finished. I'll post my web address when the site is finished.
About the Artist
Silversmith and lapidary artist Priscilla Walsen is inspired by the colors, shapes and textures she sees and feels in the world around her. She uses both traditional and modern metal working and lapidary techniques to create each piece of handmade jewelry. Priscilla likes to find ways to use geometric shapes to create bold jewelry with clean lines. Her designs also reflect the intrinsic qualities of the colored stones and silver that she uses in her work.
Priscilla works with a variety of colored stones and with two different “types” of silver. In addition to working with sterling silver materials using traditional methods; Priscilla also works with fine silver precious metal clay. This is a malleable form of fine silver called Precious Metal Clay® (PMC) and is made from recycled silver. The result is a variety of distinctive handmade jewelry designs. The different types of silver also determine what tools, techniques and processes are used—from traditional to untraditional; from high-tech to low-tech.
Priscilla is best known for her colored stone inlay designs which usually include lapis, sugilite, chrysocolla or turquoise. The inlay settings are created from sterling silver sheet, wire, and tubing. In her stone inlay pieces, the hand fabricated sterling silver settings provide the form and the texture of the piece. Each design is enhanced by the colors and patterns in the gemstones. It is the process of working with the gemstones-- finding ways to show off the patterns and colors of the stones-- that really inspires and excites her.
For the lapidary work, Priscilla starts with “rough” gemstone material, and then saws, grinds, sands and polishes each piece. This is a time intensive process and requires attention to detail. Currently, she is experimenting with PMC to create three-dimensional settings for stone inlay. Her work with fused fine silver metal clay includes unique hollow forms and highly textured designs. These PMC pieces are fused in a kiln for two hours at a high temperature. These designs are finished with a patina on the surface to give it color and bring out the detail.
Priscilla took her first silversmithing classes while in high school. For years after that, she only dabbled in jewelry making. After a couple of decades, and looking for a creative outlet, she started taking silversmithing and lapidary classes again in Colorado. In 1997, she learned to create stone inlay jewelry at Ghost Ranch in Abiqui, NM and after that successful experience she decided to start a handmade silver jewelry business called “SilverWear Jewelry”.
In November 2006, her stone inlay work was featured in Lapidary Journal magazine. In addition, Priscilla is a certified PMC Artisan by the PMC Guild and she received her B.A. from Princeton University in 1982. Priscilla’s work has been shown in galleries in Colorado, New Mexico and Montana, and through private trunk shows. She works from her studio and gallery on the famous “High Road to Taos” in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in northern New Mexico.
