Artist Biography—Judith A. Jansen
I have been designing and fabricating fine jewelry since 1991. This is a second career for me, having been a high school physical education teacher and high school women’s gymnastic team coach for 12 years at Nicolet High School, located in a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
My business, J3—Judith Jansen Jewelry was born in 1994 after friends, family and others insisted that I make original pieces for them. After that came a new full time career including juried art shows and displays at jewelry stores.
After moving to Michigan in 1991, I enrolled in a number of jewelry classes at the Kalamazoo Institute of Art. After several semesters as a student I became a faculty member, and now from time to time I teach a specialized class in metal smithing and jewelry fabrication. Annually in the summer, I study with a master gold smith in New York City. That is where I work on my skills in metal alloying, detailed granulation, and delicate metal fusing using either fine silver, or a specialized recipe of 22K gold.
 Attending the world’s largest gem show in Tucson, Arizona each year gives me a chance to meet other jewelers, artists and lapidaries from all over the world. I participate in seminars in subjects as diverse as photographing jewelry, marketing, and keeping designs new and fresh, to how to use the newest cutting edge tools. In Tucson, networking with some of the industry’s most notable designers is exciting and keeps me focused on improving my work.
 I am a member of the Kalamazoo based “Signature Artist Cooperative,” a collection of many artists—jewelers, painters, steel fabricators, wood workers, glass makers, weavers and others—that collaborate on issues concerning the professional artist, from promotion to tax issues and marketing. We also plan numerous “hands-on” activities so we can experience how our fellow artists create their beautiful work. As a group, we operate a holiday gallery for approximately three weeks each December. Our community loves being able to visit all of the fine artists in our group, in one location, to select that very special, one-of-kind, original piece of art for their holiday gift giving.
I launched this website in early 2008. I hope you enjoy seeing examples of my work. Contact me if you would like to discuss a special piece just for you. |
