Diana Widman

"My jewelry is about the joy of creating and the sweetness of giving it to oneself or to a loved one. This jewelry is not just "product." Each piece speaks to various personal qualities, wishes, and aspirations. The women who buy my pieces intend to wear them every day. In fact, my motto, "Elegance for Every Day," is really my focus. In creating, my work keeps me striving for elegance of body and mind."

The creative process is both deliberate and spontaneous, and Diana loves the interplay between those forces. That intersection of physical process and the final product involves a leap of faith and a willing surrender to the mysteries of the creativity. The outcome is planned, but Diana loves the surprises and bubbling energy that bring focus as she moves through the set of techniques that metalsmiths have used for thousands of years. You know a Diana Widman piece by her signatures: she loves making hard metal look like soft fabric and combining colored gem palettes into a single cluster of hues. All her work is expressed in simple, easy-to-wear designs.

Diana’s lifelong passion for collecting rocks helped jumpstart her jewelry career. There is a grounding energy in rocks and gemstones that is a beautiful adjunct to the end creation. Diana loves colored stones and pearls and searches for the best examples of each gem. She often owns a gem for a long time before incorporating it into a piece. After time, the gemstone finds its place. She uses both ancient and contemporary techniques to create the precious-metal fabric that becomes jewelry. Torches, hammers, chasing tools, and a hammering block are used to form metal sheet into folded, silky material. This seemingly random process is very deliberate, as she heats, folds, hammers, sands, files, and buffs the metal. In recent years, Diana developed a proprietary hammering technique which involves layers of passes over pure, fine silver and high-karat gold. This produces subtle texture and reflects soft light onto the forms.

Diana is a Graduate Gemologist, a jewelry appraiser, and a metalsmith. She started her artistic life as a printmaker and bookbinder, developing a love of tools, process, paper, and fabric. She has learned various metalsmithing techniques at the Revere Academy in San Francisco, studied with Charles Lewton-Brain, and apprenticed for three years with Colin McDonald. She has earned her gemology credentials at Gemological Institute of America and amplifies her studies by taking continuing education courses. Diana is also a gems and jewelry appraiser, earning her credentials from Appraisers International Society after a 200-hour course. She also continues her education through this group with refresher courses.