Through my jewelry I bring a bit of magic in everyday life.
LAURA GURALIUC, jewelry artist
Greetings!
I am a self - taught jewelry artist with a taste for the fantasy and magical world. My background is multimedia developer - a different kind of creativity - but I make jewelry for over a decade. I completed my training with a Jewelry Designer course and I'm a member of the International Association of Professional Jewelry Designers.
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My passion for handmade jewelry began as a Christmas story in a December day. I tried to keep a bit of the story in my jewelry, going on a fantasy style adapted from delicate and elegant jewelry, to casual.
I live in a small town surrounded by beautiful forests and hills. Every day I walk several hours accompanied by my chow-chow boy, which helps me to detach myself from "the normal world" and to come close to the elves and fairies. A perfect day in my opinion is a day in which I make jewelry, listening to my favorite music or to a fantasy audiobook, with a cup of coffee next to me, while my chow snore nearby.
Nature is my first source of inspiration but practically everything I see or read inspires me. I am a big Tolkien fan and I made an entire collection of original Tolkien inspired designs. I also write a fantasy book and I have a collection of jewels inspired by it.
Each jewel starts with an idea or a character. First I study the character and I imagine the jewel, with all the details. The next step is to transpose on paper that image. On this drawing I work until it reaches the desired form, adding and modifying details, all to express the character's personality (or the idea from which I started) better. When I am happy with the design done, the next step is to create the physical object. When the jewel is finished, I do tests on mannequin to see how it sits and correct small details that need to be corrected. The final stage is photographing the jewel in every angle so I can present it as close to reality as possible.
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I learned on the go and the good side of this is that you never stop learning new things, new techniques ... I am not working with only one material - actually I use whatever seems appropriate to express the idea that inspired the jewelry - but the materials used are always of the highest quality.
I prefer delicate but durable jewelry so my favorite material is wire.
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Do you want to see me at work? Enjoy 🙂