We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kristi & Alex Haner a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Kristi & Alex, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
Alex and Kristi started making jewelry when they just had too much time on their hands! In 2015, they took a job to be caretakers of a remote biological facility deep in the mountains of Western Colorado, on the site of abandoned silver mining town called Gothic. The job did not entail much aside from a few weekly checks of equipment. They skied everyday, but still needed to find another hobby to fill their time. Feeling the need to be creative and make more with her hands, Kristi started gathering silversmithing tools. Slowly Gothic Mountain Jewelers became a reality! Kristi and Alex do everything together, so naturally they learned silversmithing together. Through trial and error they started creating truly one of kind pieces made with love and hard work. Every couple of years they would try and learn a new silversmithing technique allowing their style and designs to grow. They are completely self taught, and sometimes thats the best way to learn!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Kristi and Alex specialize in silver and turquoise jewelry that is inspired by nature and their travels. Each piece tells a story. They began selling their pieces on Etsy soon after they started making them. In summer 2016 they reached out to a local farmers market to ask about selling and have been consistent vendors at local markets since. They can be found every Saturday and Sunday during summer months selling their wares in Gunnison and Crested Butte respectively. Custom pieces are a large part of their business and they enjoy working with clients to come up with one of a kind pieces. In 2022 they were voted best locally made product in their local paper “The Gunnison Country Times”.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
Alex and Kristi believe having a creative outlet is essential in having a happy life. Neither of them thought growing up that they would be artists, they both have that creativity inside of them, but were distracted by every day life in society. It really took having some time in a very remote setting to unlock their full potential. Time is something that is undervalued in todays society everything is done in a rush. Having those years out in Gothic allowed Kristi and Alex to prioritize creativity and recreation. The two go hand in hand, being a creative individual you need to have time to be inspired and you need time to create your art. Coming up with new ideas based on a photo or idea you had while out riding your bike or skiing is a great feeling, seeing that piece come to life is even better.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Society can support artists by buying local. Avoid buying things on the internet. Know the person who makes the things you cherish and use. If you are in the market for something first check to see if there is someone local you can get it from before looking on amazon. There is a lot of junk out there in the world and sometimes that junk is what appears at the top in a search engine, that doesn’t mean its the best option, it just means that company has the most money to advertise. You can find the neatest products and creative individuals by engaging with your community.
Contact Info:
- Website: gothicmtnjewelers.etsy.com
- Instagram: @gothicmtnjewelers
Image Credits
Alex Tiberio Kristi Haner