Susan Richter-O'Connell

"I love to make. I love to move. Creating jewelry satisfies both of these passions! It is the process of bringing individual elements together in search of balance and unity that I find endlessly challenging."

Susan Richter-O'Connell's original impetus for making jewelry was born out of the practical desire to carry with her and show off the often over-looked treasures she found on her travels. Beach stones and glass, twigs, moss, shards of pottery, feathers...these would all become featured elements in her jewelry and tangible reminders of those journeys. In recent years, she has begun incorporating colorful enamel as well.

Richter-O'Connell's pieces usually begin with an object or element to be featured. Then, she evaluates the techniques that will best capture and showcase it in a piece of jewelry. Though she works with many metals, she prefers using silver, which she oxidizes with a matte finish. Her metal work, though often complex, is clean and bold in design. It is not for the faint of heart!

Susan Richter-O'Connell received a BFA in dance and began her professional career as a modern dancer, teacher, and choreographer. She has translated many of those same techniques to her metal working process. Though she began as a self-taught metalsmith, she has gone on to take many jewelry making workshops with artists such as Harold O'Connor, Andy Cooperman, Celie Fago, Christopher Darway, and Pat Flynn.