Nora Fischer

"I switched from interior to jewelry design about ten years ago with the goal of reinventing the way women wear pearls. Now, I'm finding that metalwork allows more versatility because I can translate it into almost any shape. Inspired by 20th century design, most of my pieces incorporate triangles, the simplest geometric form."

Nora Fischer spent 25 years designing interiors and furniture for large corporations before turning to metalsmithing and jewelry. She considers jewelry to be the personal version of furniture—critical in imparting style to the whole. Inspired by her architectural background, Fischer has found her passion at the jeweler's bench.

Using sterling silver and semi-precious stones, Fischer creates unique and limited-edition pieces that play with geometry as well as positive and negative space. She uses traditional techniques, such as the ancient Korean art of keum-bo, which involves fusing 24k gold to silver. She also employs the lost-wax casting method—fabricating, molding, creating waxes, and casting with molten metal. One piece can take hours to finish.

Nora Fischer has a BA in interior design from the University of Connecticut. Since 2011, she has studied jewelry design and fabrication at Creative Metalworks School of Design in Kensington, Maryland, and has completed workshops under many teachers. Metalworking may be a recently acquired technique for Fischer, but her designs showcase her experience with architectural shapes and human adornment, revealing a mature artist's skill.