Phyllis Pollema-Cahill

"Don't you love the feeling when something beautiful grabs your attention and draws you in to look closer? Capturing beauty is my goal when I design jewelry. It's also important to me that my jewelry is well-crafted and comfortable to wear. "

The beauty of nature is Phyllis Pollema-Cahill's continual inspiration. She loves the delicate colors and lines in flower petals, the veins and shapes of leaves, and the spiraling tendrils of climbing vines. She's also attracted to the Arts & Crafts Movement and the small patterns of vintage quilts. Her work combines nature motifs with vintage patterns and soothing, muted colors.

Phyllis hand fabricates each piece of jewelry from copper or silver and polymer clay. Polymer is a versatile, durable, and lightweight medium. She uses the Japanese mokume gane technique to layer different colors of polymer, impressing them with designs and slicing them to reveal a pattern.

Phyllis has been an artist all her life, first as a graphic designer and later as a children's book illustrator, where she specialized in watercolor illustration. She holds a degree in illustration from Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in Denver, CO.