Eily Stetler

I am a jewelry artist who creates work about my lived experiences and those I care about due to my battle with cancer. My art predominantly consists of wearable illustrations, taking photographs, and redrawing them over a glass coating also known as enamel. I capture their essence to be forever held in metal to embed my memories of those I love so that they can outlive me, tell stories, and bring those moments to life.

I felt an urge to show glimpses of my journey through my craft since becoming more aware of my mortality. I want to convey that the small moments, your family, pets, and everything else deserve to be celebrated. These pieces in a way are like a heartwarming photo album for me to look back on but for the rest of the world they are a reminder to not take your relationships for granted.

When I create I allow the idea to manifest itself in my mind, draw it out in my sketchbook, and make it. Once my work is planned out, I shape my copper sheet, and enamel it. Then I move onto the most important part which is drawing my subject matter by looking over the photos that I collected. Lastly, the piece is normally placed in a nickel or silver tab setting, like a picture frame. Depending on the format I will add knotted beads or steel wire so that it can be worn for special occasions, my pieces are normally small, as they need to be comfortable to wear or hold.

I took inspiration from old rosaries and Victorian mourning jewelry, as the affection and care put into creating and preserving those items drew me to craft art of this nature. Often being seen and treated as keepsakes to be passed down for generations, which is something I intend for my art, and the concept of heirlooms has always intrigued me. The permanence of my pieces will allow them to live on for many years, having their own life, and that is something I am excited to share with the world.