Creating Affordable Handmade Jewelry: An Interview with Whitney Designs
Whitney Designs has been in operation for more than five decades, making a name for themselves in the national craft jewelry industry. Their handmade jewelry uses traditional silversmithing techniques and includes a broad collection from sterling silver and 14K gold to red brass, copper and silver nickel.
In a recent interview with John and Linda Whitney, the couple behind the operation, we discuss their expansive, yet humble jewelry empire, what inspires them, and what they love about their work.
John learned the craft from his father in the 1950s, who made jewelry for holiday presents and was the head of arts and crafts of the Works Progress Division in Kansas. John’s grandfather was an avid rock hound, and took John on trips out west to collect rock specimens. John’s father also picked up this skill and added stones to his jewelry. When John started school at the University of Kansas, he knew what he wanted to do, and he majored in silversmithing and sculpture.
Linda states that it’s easy to remain inspired when you enjoy your work. Every day is fresh, there is always something new to explore and learn. Inspiration comes from all art forms and artists, present and past, whether it’s music, textiles, painting, sculpture, dance, writing, jewelry or ceramics. They all interrelate.
John and Linda create everything in their private Sarasota studio using hand tools from years past. The metals are pure magic to work with because of their plasticity. They inspire the couple to make more than 100 new designs every year. The cut metal pieces are lovingly shaped formed with one of John’s 30 different hammers over silversmithing stakes and old tree stumps—ponderosa pine, oak, and birch, each with a variety of concave indentations from forming the metal. Finally, the pieces are cleaned and finished in a finishing tumbler and polished with buffs and satin wheels. Sometimes stones are added until the piece makes a statement that has to be listened to before John knows the work is finished.
Making something with their hands that brings a smile to someone’s face is a great reward for Linda. Also, it is always a surprise to create a complex piece using simple tools. It’s an exciting discovery for her to find a new way to bend or texture the metal. There is always a new experience just around the corner in the studio. John finds that the soul of making art keeps them going.
Whitney Designs’ work is acquired by discerning museum and retail boutiques throughout the country. The Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Hildene (the summer home of Robert Todd Lincoln), the Kemper Art Museum, Montclair Art Museum, Ohio Craft Museum, Guilford Art Center, The Exchange in Sarasota, and Florida CraftArt in St Petersburg all carry their beautiful handmade jewelry.
If you’d like to know more about Whitney Designs, click here.
