About the artist
“That we can make beauty from the ingredients of the earth is endlessly fascinating to me. I want to make the jewelry I long to see in this world.”
From a little Michigan village searching the driveway gravel for treasure, to Michigan State University studying Physics, to climbing pyramids & volcanoes; from restoring historic theaters in Wisconsin to painting movie sets in Hollywood, life has led Joanne to Asheville, NC to find time and opportunity to acquire skills needed to bring her ideas into being.
In metalsmithing, Joanne finds a path that balances both rigor and lyricism. Fascinated with the aesthetics of the Byzantine civilization and the utility of the industrial revolution she strives to embed her work in history, yet keep it contemporary.
Often she will begin with an interesting technique, or invent a project to learn the manner of construction of an historic work. She is careful to keep the mark of hand and tool, she looks for an amalgam ancient yet sophisticated, the elusive simple composition.
An interview with Rapid River Magazine
From Hollywood film sets to Asheville's art scene, Joanne M. Davis-Woods constructs grandeur of originality