Student Spotlight: America Cutter

Jeweler and perennial student America Cutter took her first class at Metalwerx in 2009. At that point in her life, she had a young daughter, and had been making beaded and wire-wrapped jewelry for a few years. (Beading and wire wrapping are, of course, widely viewed as the “gateway drugs” to a full-fledged passion for metalsmithing.) After that class, she knew metalsmithing/jewelry making was what she wanted to do, but realized that she couldn’t fully take it on just then.

Midnight Druzy Bracelet

Midnight Druzy Cuff Bracelet

America had studied fashion design in undergraduate school, and worked in the industry for a couple of years on Newbury Street. She also had an MBA, and had worked in the corporate and finance world for 15 years. With this background, she took a savvy approach to her career as a professional jeweler. Confident in her talent and her product, she established her business and trademarked her company name, Camla. She also established her line of jewelry as a presence on Etsy. She came back to Metalwerx in 2013, taking Directed Open Studio with instructor David Baird.

SoWa booth

America’s SoWa booth

In 2010, she applied to SoWa Open Market operated by New England Open Markets in Boston’s hip South End neighborhood, a weekly Sunday market from May through October bringing together local artists, designers, crafters, farmers and food trucks. She was accepted as an exhibitor, and thus began a routine of doing, in effect, 10 to 12 craft shows the first season. By 2011, America was doing well over 50 craft shows each year, and her business is going strong. Along the way, she has educated herself in the business of jewelry — marketing and the fine points of selling — as well as challenging herself to learn new techniques and grow in her metalsmithing skills.

Camla studio

Camla studio

America works in her beautiful studio at Stonybrook Fine Arts, an arts center and studio space in Jamaica Plain. Her goals for the next couple of years are to establish her own website with a new collection of jewelry, to enter high-end shows, and perhaps to begin wholesaling her jewelry. She says, “Metalwerx has been such an invaluable resource for my growth. It has given me the ability to expand my jewelry design/fabrication skills into new territory, especially with stone setting and metal forming.”

We wish America great success in achieving her goals, and look forward to seeing her every week in the classroom studio here at Metalwerx!

Wavy Sparkle Ring