Nancy Marland

Each piece of limited edition and one-of-a-kind jewelry is handmade by me in my Massachusetts studio. I work in a spirit of spontaneity with a focus on abstraction, inspired by my love of music, particularly jazz. I am influenced by the work of midcentury modernists, decorative arts, and the abstraction of patterns and shapes in nature and everyday things. The process of design really excites me. A collaboration between me (designer) and you (wearer) gives me the ultimate design challenge of bringing life and joyful expression to work that’s cohesive, well-made, and comfortable to wear. ​At the heart of my work is a playful contrast between precious metal and polymer clay—the shiny, reflective quality of silver against the colorful, patterned, matte polymer—bridging the organic with the man-made, with one foot in the natural world and the other modern and whimsical. ​I received a BFA from the Art Institute of Boston with a concentration in painting and sculpture. I have come to jewelry design later in life after having spent more than 30 years as a self-employed graphic designer. A lifetime of experience working in a variety of fine art and craft disciplines (landscape painting, ceramics, quilting, fine woodworking and graphic design) have all informed the passion I feel doing this work.