kat cole

The artist: The Georgia native, who grew up in Lithia Springs, received her BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and an MFA from East Carolina University.

Since then, she has worked as a visiting professor in metals/jewelry at Western Michigan University, taught workshops nationally and exhibited internationally in Germany, Thailand and Korea.

The company/studio: Cole started her business in 2008. She recently relocated from Dallas, where she had lived and worked for seven years, to Columbus, GA.

The goods & materials: Bold and graphic jewelry and sculpture, with an industrial feel. Pieces are made primarily of enamel on steel, a technique, once-common used on signs, cookware and appliances but over time has become less so.

Process: Fusing glass to the metal surface allows for rich, brilliant surfaces to her durable steel objects.

All of her work is kiln fired. Even the large-scale sculpture is put into a kiln at 1500 degrees for a matter of minutes and pulled back out to cool.

What’s popular: X Marks earrings ($110) or X Marks Big Ovals ($180).

Inspiration: The natural and man-made structures and attributes of the different places she has lived.

Fun or unusual requests: A commission to make a brooch modeled after a contemporary art museum.

Big break (s): Selling her first major sculpture to the Wells Fargo Corporate collection and having a set of brooches go into the Museum of Arts and Design  in NYC.

Honors: Cole’s work has been published in Lark Books’ “500 Enameled Objects,” and “Art Jewelry Today 3” (Schiffer Publishing), as well as in magazines, including Metalsmith, Ornament and Art Jewelry.

Her work also can be found in private and public collections, including the Museum of Arts and Design and the Houston Museum of Fine Art.

What’s next: Workshops in her new home studio.

Where to buy: jewelryedition.com and artfulhome.com/katcole.

Get social at: 

–     Instagram: katcolemetalsmith