brandi couvillion

Inspired by historic maps and architectural details, New Orleans native Brandi Couvillion tells stories in her historically inspired jewelry.

Artist: A New Orleans native, Couvillion graduated from Tulane University. To explore her creative side, she took workshops at Penland School of Craft (NC) and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. A few serendipitous classes at New Orleans Metalsmithing sparked her love for crafting jewelry.

While working as the CFO of a nonprofit historic preservation center in New Orleans for six years, regularly poring over historic maps, she was involved in a 10-year restoration of a Victorian-era home in the Lower Garden District.

The hands-on project further fueled her passion for the city, maps and historic architecture and inspired her mixed media art and jewelry.

Company/studio: Brandi Couvillion started in 2005 in New Orleans. The metal artist, who maintains a studio in New Orleans, is headquartered in Washington, DC. She also has a storefront and studio in Alexandria, VA.

In the beginning: In 2005, she began exploring various artistic mediums, including found object art crafted from items dug up in age-old privies. By 2013, metal had become her muse.

Art & materials: Metal jewelry work, etched with historic maps culled from archives. Includes bracelets, cuffs, earrings and necklaces.

What’s popular:

Wrought-iron lace of New Orleans’ legendary Storyville District.
Confluence Collection, which captures the meeting point of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers.

Both collections range from $75 to $245, depending on the metal and finish).

Other favorites: The sleek Fluidity Collection showcases the Mississippi River as it flows through the city to the Delta and the Gulf of Mexico ($85 to $135 in various metals).

Her favorite cuff: The Meandering Mississippi, which depicts much of the region in 1863 while showcasing New Orleans with all the surrounding waterways. Available in three materials: sterling silver, brass and copper ($175 to $425).

Favorite tools: Her hammers “for their textural possibilities” and the technique of patination, often using common household elements like ammonia and salt.

Inspirations:

Historical maps
Architectural details.
Ornate and whimsical flourishes in Art Nouveau.
Bold geometry of Art Deco.

Special commissions:

Crafting a jewelry line to coincide with the National Gallery of Art’s Photography Exhibit, which focused on photography East of the Mississippi River.
Created a capsule collection for The Historic New Orleans Collection’s Seignouret-Brulatour House.

Recent awards/honors:

Named an American Craft Council artist. 2024.
Awarded a design artist fellowship by the District of Columbia Arts and Humanities Commission for the past three years.
A resident artist at the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria.

Recent project: Delving into her recent Storyville District Collection, inspired by New Orleans’ red-light district, where history, jazz and desire intertwined from 1897 to 1917.

What’s next: Will be a featured artist at the Ariodante Contemporary Art & Craft Gallery in New Orleans. Exhibit opens June 1.

Where to buy: bcouvillion.com. Also at: