Donna V Jewelry
Donna Veverka • Boston • 857.222.0332
About the Artist
Donna Veverka was trained as a metalsmith, blacksmith, and sculptor, she is a one-woman atelier. Working in silver using traditional techniques Donna produces edgy earrings, tuff cuffs and powerful rings for anyone with an adventurous soul.
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The working process involves a combination of lost wax casting, hand-forging, and hand fabrication. Sterling silver is Donna's medium of choice, with leather or custom braided cord used on necklaces for both style and comfort. Each chain is individually made with links formed, hammered or soldered by hand. Every piece is carefully finished with attention to hammer marks, burnished edges and contrasts between matte surfaces, highly polished accents and blackened silver to emphasize the sculptural qualities.
Donna works designing custom commissions, one-of-a-kind works and comprehensive collections for select shops, galleries and audiences at craft fairs around the US.
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Born just outside of New York City and currently living in Boston Massachusetts, Donna Veverka grew up going to the MET and has always loved Museums and antiquity. She studied at the University of the Arts, Philadelphia College of Art and Design. Donna received a BFA in metalsmithing, and an MFA in Sculpture at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Donna and her husband spent 6 months in Italy and still travel there extensively (10 trips and counting!) doing research in museums and historic sites to discover compelling forms that capture her imagination. We hope they capture yours.
About the Process
Waxes and Casting:
The directness of wax carving is really the key to what I love about the casting process. The lost wax process makes casting the most complex forms possible - undercuts and impossibly thin details that would not be possible to fabricate or piece mold are perfect for lost-wax. And a lost wax burnout captures all of the delicate surface details that make my work feel so hand made. Casting molten metal into the resulting mold allows me to record every detail of the carved form and transfer those surfaces and shapes into a durable, wearable material: sterling silver.
Forging and my love of Rivets:
One of my favorite studio tools is my set of Fretz hammers. These hammers and my Fisher Eagle anvil allow me to get three to five hammer blows on a single rivet head and control the small details that I hope make my Forged Cuffs and Rivet Rings really stand out. I detail the edges and often put a hammered surface on the entire sheet of silver that I use for a piece of jewelry. Other things like my hammered earrings or necklace chains get lighter and reflect more light off of the facets I forge into the intricate surfaces and edges giving the metal a shimmer that I love.
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These are the "carved from scratch" waxes that became the rings next to them. Each of these red waxes were carved from a block of hard carving wax in my studio before being molded for casting in sterling silver and hand finished.
Marble Carving:
I use many of the same tools as most stone carvers use, except that I don't use a chisel to rough-in the shape of the column fragments - they are too small for that! The files and lapidary wheels that stone carvers use to finish details are what I carve and shape the marble blocks into column drums and fragments. I cut flutes in the columns and then I break some to get the natural edges and the feel of a ruin or archeological site.
The stone building in Bomarzo that inspired the ring above
On a research trip in Rome
At the Smithsonian Craft Show 2013
