Artist Statement

Sylvia Swasey

Medium: Jewelry

After 15 years as a musical theater costume designer, I traded the colors and textures of fabric for those of jewelry. My six years of designing and creating beaded jewelry allow me the same creative expression with the added joy of knowing that hundreds of women are wearing my creations every day!

I love working with the radiance of dichroic glass and use it as an accent on a solid-colored base. The glass is first cut to the desired size and shape, then layered, before heating to 1500° in a glass-fusing kiln. The glass piece can be as simple as three layers of glass or as elaborate as fifteen pieces of glass. Once the layers of glass are fully fused, the piece is slowly cooled over several hours to strengthen it and then cleaned and prepared for either beading or re-firing.

Beading begins with selecting crystal and Czech glass beads that accentuate the subtle reflections of the dichroic glass while accenting, enhancing, and coordinating with the base color of the fused piece. The natural stone and pearl beads add another color and texture dimension to my entire jewelry line as well as expand the customer interest. I love to layer the soft pallet of stone with the sparkle of crystal. Each finished piece is a richly textured and unique work of art in the form of a necklace, bracelet or earring. A benefit from investing in one of my jewelry art pieces is it’s timeless ability to coordinate with multiple outfits for many, many years.