Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathleen Krucoff.
Hi Kathleen, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Expressing my creativity has been a big part of my life. Like most children, I loved to color and now I joke that I was never one to color inside the lines. In high school, I made jewelry from macrame and beads. Throughout my life, I tried my hand at lots of mediums. In the ‘80s I enjoyed creating stained glass windows and continued working in glass. However, it wasn’t until 2008 when I began to explore fused glass, that I made my way to working with metal. I started to wire wrap the fused glass cabochons I made for pendants and earrings. That work was in a gallery in Fairplay, CO. One of the members of that gallery offered to teach me metalsmithing. At that point, I took private lessons from her for the next three years. I feel she gave me a solid metalsmithing foundation upon which I have continued to build my skill set.
Working with metal has become my passion. I love the tactile feeling of shaping and forming metal into wearable works of art. I have continued to take workshops from a variety of metalsmiths which has allowed me to grow and develop the art I produce.
I’d like to think that my love of working with metal developed in part because my maternal grandfather was a farrier/blacksmith.
Today I am represented by Starfish Jewelry in Boulder, Colorado, Kreuser Gallery in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Santa Fe Trail Jewelry in Monument, Colorado.
My first collection was a series I call Treescapes. It has been wonderful to see its evolution. My latest collection is called Relationships and its inspiration came from the Pandemic. I feel the importance of our ties/relationships with family, friends, community is essential to our well-being. With each piece, I want it to represent some type of relationship.
A little over a year ago, I was approached by the National Museum of WWII Aviation in Colorado Springs to make jewelry from airplanes that flew in the war. My charge is to create pieces that honor the men and women that served in that war. The material from the planes is aluminum. After working with silver and gold, I have found aluminum to be a lovely metal too. I think working with those artifacts to make commemorative jewelry is so special and I am humbled to be able to do it.
Since 2019, I have been a full-time artist and I am so grateful to spend time doing what I love.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It definitely has not been a smooth road for me.
One of the biggest struggles came with the start of the pandemic in 2020. Galleries that represented me then came up with creative ways to present artists’ works, yet sadly some of them closed. That was scary for me.
I needed to rethink my business model. I revamped my website and made online shopping a focus. I also utilized Instagram and Facebook as a way to let people know about my new work. All of that certainly helped get me through a rough spot.
During 2020 I found it really difficult to tap into my creative flow. To offset that, I took some workshops and found learning new techniques helped to unlock the block I was experiencing.
It confirmed that being persistent is important. Continue setting specific, achievable goals and you will be rewarded.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I specialize in art jewelry made from silver, gold, semi-precious and precious stones. From the very beginning of my journey as a metalsmith in 2008, one of my goals has been to create unique, one-of-a-kind wearable art. I consider my work forms of personal adornment as distinctive as the person who wears it. As with everything I make, no two pieces are exactly alike because they are made by hand.
The Treescape Collection is probably the one thing I am best known for. My dad was a landscaper and he taught me the importance of caring for trees. I love them. My initial pieces were simple tree shapes, then I explored creating leaves and doing whimsical flourishes for the base of my trees. Sometimes I set 2mm faceted gems at their base.
The thing I am most proud of is the commemorative work I do for The National Museum of WWII Aviation located in Colorado Springs. Working with the plane artifacts, knowing that they flew missions during WWII, I feel the need to approach each piece with deep reverence and respect. I’ve been given free rein to create what I want with these artifacts; that has been immensely freeing in my process. The planes are made of aluminum and I had not worked with that material until this project. It is a wonderful metal that takes texture and form beautifully. I have even been able to heat it with my torch to a temperature where I can reticulate it. Reticulation is a process where the metal wrinkles and folds onto itself. I think it’s a great look for the organic type of jewelry I make. Even though I work with small bits and pieces of one of those planes, I can’t help but smile when I see a fully intact airplane and think of how much jewelry one plane could make. This commemorative jewelry been a wonderful aspect of the work I do.
There are a few things that set me apart from others. I am a sole owner and operator of my business. I am careful that I don’t overextend the work I agree to take on so that I can deliver quality, hand-crafted work. This is my third career. I started out in the insurance industry. Then I went back to school to get a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science. Three years ago, I was able to leave the corporate world and I plan to spend the rest of my life working on my true passion as an artist. I think all the choices and experiences have shaped me to be the type of creator I am today. I am extremely grateful that I can continue to explore, learn, and thrive doing what I love to do.
We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
I don’t define success in terms of material things.
I think of success as that feeling of joy you get when you do something well. The Greek word, Makários, sums it up for me better than I think I can say it in English. That sense of happiness, feeling blessed, and the tranquility you experience when you live a full life.
I know how richly I have been blessed and that is my true success.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kathleenkrucoff.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kathleenkrucoff/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KathleenKrucoffArtJewelry
Image Credits
Daniel Krucoff of Suffering From Exposure.
