Blue Striation Earrings

Bio:

From the earliest age, Debra Adelson always knew she was destined to be an artist. She found her passion when she was introduced to the metals studio while a student at Tyler School of Art where she received her BFA in Jewelry Design and Silversmithing. Debra views herself as a sculptor intent on creating pieces that stand the test of time.

Debra’s award-winning work has also been exhibited nationally in galleries and museums shops including the National Museum for Women in the Arts, The National Portrait Gallery, and the Corning Museum of Glass. Her work has been collected privately and is included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Arts and Design, NYC. Debra has exhibited for almost 25 years in major national juried art shows such as the Smithsonian Craft Show and Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show. Her work has appeared in numerous publications, and she is the author of the book ‘The Art of Jewelry, Plastic & Resin’, published by Lark Books in 2008, and in 2021, Debra co-founded AdornAxis.

Artist Statement:

I am formally trained jeweler who graduated from art school before ‘carbon footprint’ and ‘climate change’ were terms used in our everyday vernacular. As a young artist, I incorporated plastics into my designs as a way to add color to my work. As the years went by, the global conversation changed, but I had built a successful career, and felt trapped into continuing to make the work that I was known for. Things abruptly changed when I became a parent, and began to have lingering anxiety…how was my use of plastics affecting my health? My family’s health? How was I impacting the planet? After a great deal of soul searching, I decided my only option was to reinvent myself mid-career and began a quest to find a more sustainable and environmentally friendly material. Through years of experimentation, I have developed my own techniques to sculpt glass that I am able to upcycle some of my raw materials. The process I use is called cold-working and allows me to create richly colorful and opalescent pieces that narratively explore environmental issues while blurring the lines between natural and manmade elements, as well as gently touching upon the concepts of precious and non-precious materials.