Susan Winberg

"The intention behind my work is to create jewelry that elicits a smile!"

An aficionado of the pop and street art scenes, Susan found inspiration in the Smiley ideogram, which has long been used to express positive feelings, from happiness to gratitude and affection, to create a happier and more humane world.

Susan's visual interpretation of the Smiley is unique to her. She begins her process by handcarving a hollow elliptical sphere in wax, which she then casts in a base metal. When satisfied with the prototype, she creates a 3D model, which she casts in silver or gold. Each piece is individually crafted and hand finished. Some have kiln fired enamel accents and some are set with stones.

Susan practiced law for a decade before reawakening her desire to create art. On a whim, she enrolled in a silver smithing class, which eventually led to a wax carving class. A wonderful teacher taught her how to create hollow forms using wax, and it was for a class assignment that Susan made her first hollow smiley face pendant. This was the beginning of a new phase in Susan's artistic journey.