We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Heather Saunders a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Heather, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a time you helped a customer really get an amazing result through their work with you.

I made some pieces for a local art gallery and took them in thinking they would select just a few but they ended up taking all 35 pieces and I was immensely pleased. A few days later I received a phone call from someone who had purchased a ring that I had made and they had fallen in love with the color of the stone and wanted a bracelet made with 3 similar stones to the one in the ring. I was thrilled and set about inquiring the size, orientation of the stones and drew out some ideas and sent them to the customer. We came up with a design that the customer selected (out of 3 given) and I immediately started making the bracelet. I was a bit hesitant on the sizing as we had only discussed over the phone but when I presented the bracelet to the customer they were very pleased and fell in love with the stone selection made and the size. I do not usually do “custom” orders so this was a unique situation and with everything done over the phone it had to be precise. I was very happy that the customer was pleased with the outcome.

Heather, 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?

My mother taught me how to knit at the age of nine and I have always had something that I was working on, to keep my hands and no doubt my mind busy. I continued with knitting into my adult years and when I was first married I learned to sew some of my clothes in order to save some money. When I had my children (two) I began to investigate other crafts and leaned towards surface design with fabrics. I took a few classes and workshops and began to design fabrics with dye, textures and paints. Pretty soon I was making some clothing using these fabrics and that worked for a while but the surface design process took up too much space in my house so I decided I needed to downsize to something that would be more portable. Hence, beading came into my life but I wasn’t really satisfied with “just” beading so I explored what else I could do with beads and learned that PMC otherwise known as Precious Metal Clay was one avenue to investigate. Again, I took classes and workshops and branched out into making jewelry with PMC and did art shows locally and out of state. This continued for about 5 years until a friend reached out to me to see if I might be interested in taking a metalsmithing class at Arrowmont and so I took the class and the silversmithing bug got me. I continued expanding on my skills by myself and also through online and in-person classes and finally reached a place where I was satisfied with my techniques and skill level. My designs are minimalistic yet incorporate different types of stones in unique ways. I listen to the customers’ comments and learn from them and incorporate those thoughts into future work. My pieces are comprised mainly of sterling silver with a touch of gold here and there but with thought given to cost of materials and cost of the finished piece which then translates into retail price.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I was 45 years old I was diagnosed with breast cancer and subsequently had a mastectomy with plastic surgery at the same time (7 hour surgical procedure) followed by 6 months of chemotherapy. During that time I was on an emotional roller coaster as I did not know what to expect, whether I would live or die, would chemotherapy really help me, how would I manage working full time and caring for my family (husband and two children) at the same time? I lost my hair so I wore different wigs which was sometimes challenging but interesting as people would not recognized me (one day I was a blonde and the next day a redhead). Needless to say the chemotherapy took its toll both physically and emotionally and since I am a tennis player, I also played competitive tennis during that time. I remember I was playing a match and I was breathing hard, red faced and having to take extra time between points (I had had a chemotherapy treatment just the week before) so my opponents said “look we know you want to be out here playing but we can stop if you want since you are not feeling well”…but my competitive spirit, resilience, determination and stubborness got the best of me and I said “nope, we are finishing the match”…my tennis partner and I lost the match but it felt good to know that I fought back, through thick and thin and stood my ground. I feel that those same qualities have helped me in my business of making jewelry…I am determined to produce a quality product with good design, I am resilient even in the lean times and my fierce spirit carries me forward to constantly challenge myself in my art, work and technique.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I was 55 I went through a divorce after having been married for 32 years with two children. I quickly had to do an about face to figure out how to make a living for myself. I knew I could not subsist on making beaded jewelry which was what I was doing at that time although I did try hard. Fortunately I found a job working with two amazing jewelers in the workshop in a high end jewelry store. From there I took a 3 week long workshop learning the ins and outs of becoming a bench jeweler. While I did not learn “everything” during that time, it did start me on the path I am on at present. The jewelers helped me learn important tips and a few techniques that moved me forward in my learning process. Without going through that divorce and having the fear of failure put in me and the fear of not knowing how I was going to make it on my own would not have forced me on the pivotal path of metalsmithing. I love it and the creativity it affords me, plus, meeting so many like minded people along the way who are supportive and encouraging and willing to share knowledge and experiences. It is a leap of faith but it is one that is rewarding as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.heathersaundersjewelrydesigns.com
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