Trained as a traditional metalsmith, Maryland designer Jowita Allen uses recycled plastic bottles, nylon and other ordinary materials to make her modern and often playful jewelry.
The artist: Allen began making jewelry and wearable objects as a teenager while growing up in Poland.
In 2005, she moved to the United States and settled in Washington, DC, where she studied jewelry at the George Washington Corcoran College of the Arts and Design and at the Art League of the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, VA.
For four summers (2013 to 2017) Allen attended the Warsaw-based Wytwórnia Antidotum Jewelry School, the first private jewelry design and craft school in modern Polish goldsmithery.
The studio: Allen’s home studio is in Chevy Chase, MD, where she has lived and worked since 2013.
The art & materials: Jewelry with bold forms and textures. After years of concentrating on traditional metalsmithing techniques, Allen uses alternative materials, such as rubber, wood, nylon, and recycled plastics. She collects plastic bottles and converts them into pieces of wearable art.
What’s popular:
- Earrings ($49) made of recycled plastic and sterling silver.
- Earrings ($75) made from nylon, sterling silver and various semiprecious beads.
Other favorites: Recycled plastic necklaces ($140 to $700).
Fun or special commissions: Necklaces made of bottles from different countries.
What’s next:
- Academy Art Museum Craft Show, Easton, MD, Oct 15-17.
- JRA Day, the James Renwick Alliance for Craft’s annual show and sale, Chevy Chase, MD, Dec. 3.
Where to buy: jowitaallenjewelry.com
Get social at:
- Facebook: jowitaallenjewelry
- Instagram: @jowitaallenjewelry
- Twitter: JowitaAllen
