Designer Shares her Jewelry Inspirations
Paula Crevoshay
Jewelry Designer
Jewelry Designer
Interview with Paula Crevoshay, Jewelry Designer
Paula Crevoshay’s one-woman exhibit of her jewelry designs at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh speaks for her esteemed status in the jewelry world. In this GIA exclusive interview recorded at the 2013 Tucson Gem Show, she speaks for herself and her art in eloquent and compelling detail.Her exhibit (and companion book), Garden of Light, puts her creations on full, colorful display, and here in the video she talks about her creative process. Holding a bedazzling jeweled butterfly in hand, she explains how she most often begins with a center stone—in this case a raw natural pearl. She meditates on it until a vision begins to take shape and form in her mind. Then she begins to incorporate stones that match in sheen and luster and maximize play of color. Crevoshay is proud to wear the crown of “Queen of Color” that admirers in the jewelry industry have placed on her. It fits, she says, because from the beginning of her career she saw herself as a painter who uses gemstones for her color pallet.
Though much the self-described dreamer, Crevoshay is not without a practical side. She relies on such scientific gemological elements as refractive index and Mohs’ scale in making her fanciful choices. And she is not above substituting, say, a chrome oxide for an emerald in order to make an item more price-friendly for a client.
Still, in the end, Paula Crevoshay is an artist, and holds to the artist’s creed that the most important thing in pursuing a vision is to keep it true to yourself and distinctive from all others.
Paula Crevoshay is a world renowned designer who is driven by uncompromising passion for her work. She has been dubbed the “Queen of Color” by the trade press. In these interviews, she conveys her philosophy of jewelry design and her sources of inspiration. She also describes some of her own magnificent pieces in detail.