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Meet Dylan Johnson of Cerriousdesign in Rino

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Dylan Johnson.

Dylan, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I have a BFA in Jewelry/Metalsmithing with a minor in Industrial Design from Metro State. I started in Industrial Design but it wasn’t going the way I wished my degree to follow and I was taking a jewelry class at the time which I loved, so I just shifted over to Art with an emphasis on Jewelry. I learned so much in Industrial Design which included Computer Aided Drafting and 3D printing and the Jewelry Industry had just begun to embrace much of this new technology so I combined the old world skills I learned in my jewelry classes with this new world of technology to create so really unique pieces of jewelry that would be really hard to make using old world skills but have that same incredible craftsmanship. Today I use a very unique program called Zbrush that uses digital sculpting with a pen on a screen using a desktop computer. So basically I took my real life wax sculpting skills and transferred that to the digital sculpting realm. This has allowed me to get unparalleled detail in my work which I have paired with today’s ultra detailed 3D printers to get my vision of fine art sculptural metal jewelry out into the world.

I had little money as most college students do and made resin casted jewelry from molds of various things, mostly pendants for extra cash. These were all under $20 but were a hit and sold well. I progressed to learn new and various skills through my classes at Metro and through various groups on the internet and YouTube.

When I graduated in 2013 I was very poor and I took as many odd art related jobs as I could and continued to progress my skills in different ways and continued to sell resin jewelry. When a relative died and I was left a little money I sunk it all into things to aid in my jewelry work. I was commissioned to do several silver rings for people which started me in the direction I am now as a full fledged jewelry designer and maker. I sell in person and through the Etsy website and my buyers call my work “extraordinary’ and other such pleasing adjectives. My work can be found at – gothjeweler.com

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Not at all. I used very old equipment I found online from Craigslist. I took as many arts-related odd jobs as I could find to fund my jewelry work., I started with nearly nothing making plastic jewelry to making art jewelry that has been sent around the world from Singapore to Sweden. It’s still a struggle, I work in my studio at home and in my cold or sometimes super hot garage, but not like it was in the beginning, I have better tools to make my life easier.

Please tell us about your business.
I make ultra-detailed art jewelry in the style of the Art Nouveau movement from the 1890’s. My work is known for its sculptural elements in the metal, I only use stones as an accent, unlike most jewelry in which everything is concentrated on how many precious stones can be fitted on the work. I also am very aware of where I get the metal from and especially aware of where the stones come from. I mostly use high-quality laboratory grown precious gemstones for conscientious reasons.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
That’s a tricky question and my mistakes have to lead me to where I am today. I wouldn’t change anything.

Pricing:

  • My work sells from $100 to $1500

Contact Info:

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