About Wire Butterfly - Amanda Houser
I create my designs with comfort, beauty, quality, and uniqueness in mind. I love to work with wire, mainly with stainless steel but also sterling silver, 14 kt gold fill, brass, copper and niobium metals. I hand select all beads and components to add interest and color to my pieces. I find I am rather eclectic as I love to use - vintage components, ceramic cabs and beads, glass cabs and beads - especially artian pieces, wood, stone, plastic, resin, shell, fossils, polymer clay, recyled jewelry beads and parts, you name it I'll find a way or at least try my damnest to make it work.
I have been influenced by many different experiences and people in my life. I have always loved doing anything creative, I loved arts & crafts time in school and girl guides (yes, I was one). I loved spending time with my grandmother at rock shows and making crafts as a young girl, she taught me how to make wire trees. My mother was crafty also, so I had her influence and support too. I always loved unique jewelry and learned different beading techniques in grade school to made jewelry for my friends.
In high school I had a great art teacher that was encouraging and I found a love for painting. I joined the local ceramic club and realized I like sculpture. I went to Red Deer College and finished the 2 year Art & Design program in 1997, I majored in Ceramics and Sculpture. I found my love for wire in Sculpture, creating human figures that I would then recreate in larger form with willow.
A few years later, on my own I went in the direction of jewelry again. I did a lot of self exploration with wire, at the time there was not a lot of information about how to make wire jewelry and the supplies were not as easily obtained as they can be today. I learned alot of my wire techniques from trial and error, until I found a great magazine "The Wire Artist", and the use of the internet and connecting with other great artists working with wire enabled me to learn many other techinques to grow and strengthen my jewelry designs. There are many amazing wire artists working around the world that I admire.
I love to learn new techniques and skills, so I took some courses and classes to learn more about jewelry making. I took a Red Deer Summer series course on the basic jewelry making techniques. I had the pleasure to take some classes taught by Gold Smith - Paul Leathers on casting, ring making, and gemstone identification. I learned lapidary techniques from a local rock shop owner and I have cut and polished some of my own stones. There are so many interesting ways to create jewelry, I use the ones that I love the most and try to make the best peices that I can. I truely enjoy designing and creating beautiful pieces for people to wear, It is a wonderful feeling when someone wears a piece you've put your heart, energy and time into creating.
I started my business WireButterfly Jewelry in 2005, I sold my work through word
of mouth, to friends and family. I then branched out to sell at local markets, craft shows, galleries and small shops. As I am growing as an artist and business person, life changes, right now I am so busy being at home with my children I am not able to sell through shows and markets. So I am going to focus on my website and etsy shop more. This is exciting for me to see how my site will change in the next few months as I add more pieces.
I have been influenced by many different experiences and people in my life. I have always loved doing anything creative, I loved arts & crafts time in school and girl guides (yes, I was one). I loved spending time with my grandmother at rock shows and making crafts as a young girl, she taught me how to make wire trees. My mother was crafty also, so I had her influence and support too. I always loved unique jewelry and learned different beading techniques in grade school to made jewelry for my friends.
In high school I had a great art teacher that was encouraging and I found a love for painting. I joined the local ceramic club and realized I like sculpture. I went to Red Deer College and finished the 2 year Art & Design program in 1997, I majored in Ceramics and Sculpture. I found my love for wire in Sculpture, creating human figures that I would then recreate in larger form with willow.
A few years later, on my own I went in the direction of jewelry again. I did a lot of self exploration with wire, at the time there was not a lot of information about how to make wire jewelry and the supplies were not as easily obtained as they can be today. I learned alot of my wire techniques from trial and error, until I found a great magazine "The Wire Artist", and the use of the internet and connecting with other great artists working with wire enabled me to learn many other techinques to grow and strengthen my jewelry designs. There are many amazing wire artists working around the world that I admire.
I love to learn new techniques and skills, so I took some courses and classes to learn more about jewelry making. I took a Red Deer Summer series course on the basic jewelry making techniques. I had the pleasure to take some classes taught by Gold Smith - Paul Leathers on casting, ring making, and gemstone identification. I learned lapidary techniques from a local rock shop owner and I have cut and polished some of my own stones. There are so many interesting ways to create jewelry, I use the ones that I love the most and try to make the best peices that I can. I truely enjoy designing and creating beautiful pieces for people to wear, It is a wonderful feeling when someone wears a piece you've put your heart, energy and time into creating.
I started my business WireButterfly Jewelry in 2005, I sold my work through word
of mouth, to friends and family. I then branched out to sell at local markets, craft shows, galleries and small shops. As I am growing as an artist and business person, life changes, right now I am so busy being at home with my children I am not able to sell through shows and markets. So I am going to focus on my website and etsy shop more. This is exciting for me to see how my site will change in the next few months as I add more pieces.
