From Jo Dean's website:
"I have always been interested in creating art. Since graduating from college I have studied and worked with china paints, ceramics, watercolors, acrylics and oils. From the early 1970's through the 1980's, I painted in a folk art style. I taught acrylic painting at a junior college. I showed my artwork at juried art shows.
My love of jewelry goes back a long ways. I started Collecting Swarovski pins, then moved to collecting vintage jewelry. I really enjoyed collecting and restoring those vintage pieces. Soon my collection became so large that I decided to start my own business, calling it Array Of Elegance, where I sold in antique stores.
Then I took a jewelry class. I was Hooked!!
My jewelry education is rooted in both classes and books. I have a passion for learning new techniques and developing new ideas for my jewelry. I began learning lapidary and metalsmithing skills, which I use today. I took all the jewelry classes offered at the Peoria Art Guild, one of which was enameling. Enameling is the fusing of vitreous glass to a metal surface either gold, silver or copper. This technique combines both science and art, which works well for me, having a masters degree in science and a love of working with my hands to create.
My enameled works are small pieces of abstract art or larger cloisonné pieces. Each is fabricated by hand and are one-of-a-kind. Using gold or sterling silver, I set my creations into wearable art.
Today my style is changing. I still love the glitz, I still add sparkly gems to my jewelry, However, I am going smaller. My next challenge is honing my cloisonné skills."
