Check Out Jeff & Myan Sorensen’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeff & Myan Sorensen.

Hi Jeff & Myan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We have been making unique jewelry from naturally shed deer, elk and reindeer antler since 1989. We both have studied art and explored other mediums but settled on this raw material that is so generously available in the 200,000 acres of wilderness behind our home in Southern Colorado. It can be tricky to work as a couple. We decided early on that we needed to allow a lot of latitude to each other’s artistic inclinations so this process would be an adventure for each of us every day we are in the studio. 36 years in, we can say it has been a satisfying approach. We each explore our relationship with the antler through the strength of our independent skills and vision. Jeff with the raw antler, hiking and finding the raw material, visioning the pieces they will become, cutting, shaping, sanding and burning. Myan brings the polish and finish work to each piece adding her experience with metals, inlay and semiprecious stones. Exploring the medium independently, Myan never knows what Jeff will cut and Jeff never knows what Myan will do with it. This allows the work to always be spontaneous and artistically satisfying to both of us.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Our early pieces were a bit clunky as we engaged in a relationship with the raw material. Lucky for us, we had enough of an appreciative audience to continue. Mastery is a lot of repetition, humility and allowing, in this case, this gift from nature to show us it’s best qualities. Our invitation is to work in tandem with what has been offered. Early on, it was a challenge to get into the art shows we would have preferred, so we did smaller ones, be featured in galleries where we would like to be represented….so we opted for gift shops. Thus, the humility piece. As the years went on, our skills, imagination and rapport with our material matured and we are now happy to be in good company at the art shows and galleries where we feature our work.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Antler as a medium for jewelry is fairly rare. It is intriguing. With our contemporary design approach, customers are often mystified that the pieces began as a raw, rough antler. Over the years we have continued to challenge ourselves with new styles and techniques. Jeff is always playing with unique shapes and has refined his technique to produce inspiring “canvases” for Myan to take to the next level. Myan has developed a wire overlay process that embellishes but does not conceal the beauty of the antler itself. Turquoise inlay is also a beautiful accent to the pieces, drawing the eye in and yet letting the antler be the star. No one has written a handbook about this. Luckily, antler is not an expensive material, allowing us to take risks. Most work, some don’t. We play and enjoy our work even after thousands of pieces. We truly believe that our enjoyment of our work/play shows and that customers take a little piece of that joy with them in every piece.

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
We have learned to show up every day and allow the flow of creativity to guide the process. Staying in flow permits an opening where magic happens. Of course, once the brilliant idea occurs, there’s often a technical side that needs to be addressed. This is secondary in our creative process.

Contact Info:

• Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/dancingelkdesigns

Image Credits
www.sunflowerstudios.us.com