We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful D’arcy Johnson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with D’Arcy below.

D’Arcy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I’m not sure if there was really a first time. I feel like I was just born this way. I would doodle every chance I got and started writing my own music when I was 5. Art, in all of its forms, is the one thing that’s kept my interest throughout the years.

D’Arcy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve been an artist ever since I was little. I was born into a creative family. One of my grandfathers was a concert pianist while the other was a photographer. My grandmother and great grandmother both made jewelry. My father drew and was a photographer and all my sisters have their own style of jewelry making. Even my daughter creates jewelry and plays the violin. One Christmas, my Aunt, who had taught me how to paint, asked if I wanted to learn how to make jewelry. That was the beginning of a new obsession.

What creative services or types of products I provide all depends on what people are looking for. Aside form jewelry, I’m a stained glass artist, a metalsmith, a painter, an aerialist, and I’ve recently taken up screen printing. I also play the bass guitar and sing in the Milwaukee based punk band Irish Sunglasses.

I think what sets me apart from other jewelers is that I’m also a lapidary, which is a stone carver. This allows me to have more freedom in the way I create my jewelry pieces and it gives the customer’s imagination a chance to run wild.

I take pride in my work, but I’m also proud of my dedication to figuring out how to make my artist endeavors profitable. A not so starving artist if you will. Working for yourself can be difficult but it’s incredibly rewarding. I highly encourage anyone to try it.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

Just because you’re not born an artist doesn’t mean you can’t be good at art. So many times I hear people say they wish they could……draw, for instance. Well they can. They just have to put pencil to paper. They just have to try. They probably just don’t like what they come up with! We are our own worse critic. So many times at one of my jewelry shows, the first thing to sell is the piece I dislike the most. It’s shown me that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wasn’t really aloud to watch much TV when I was a kid. The internet wasn’t what it is today, even when I was a teenager. Information on how to create was harder to find. If I had had access to resources such as Instagram or YouTube when I was a kid, wow, I can only imagine how much more inspired I could have been. Want to figure out painting techniques? Look up Bob Ross and boom! Gorgeous painting in a matter of minutes.

Contact Info:

• Facebook: Earth Alchemy Jewelry
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUwnw_gmEwatQLnEvLcg5mw

Image Credits

Joe Burkholder
John Stokke
Henry Martinez