Meet Lisa Marie Emmitte | Silversmith Jewelry Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lisa Marie Emmitte and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lisa Marie, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I have always been an artistic person and I am so grateful that my parents supported my artistic pursuits growing up. I was born and raised outside of Philadelphia. I grew up taking art classes in the city and we had a membreship to the Philadelphia Art Museum for as long as I could remember. My parents even supported my desires to pursue a Bachelors of Science majoring in Photography and minoring in Business at Drexel University in Philadelphia. It seems I was always destined for a creative career, it’s been in my blood my entire life. However, after working for a few years for a production company in the Philadelphia, I ended up getting my masters and going in to corporate finance for a number of years. However, when there’s an artist inside you, you always find a way back to them. After leaving the corporate world to rediscover myself, silversmithing found me. It found me on a roadtrip with my dark camping out of a jeep in the national forest outside of the Grand Canyon. That day I followed my curiosity and excitement and never looked back.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
The jewelry I create is all sterling silver and ethically-sourced natural gemstone jewelry. I utilize a range of stones but am drawn the most to unique turquoise, especially those out of Nevada or varieties with darker tones, lots of deep teals and black matrix. I create artisan jewelry that can be passed through the generations. My jewelry is often inspired by my travels, by nature, and a love of the western way of life. Every day my jewelry is evolving as my inspiration travels one way or another. I am excited to travel down the path my inspiration is currently taking me and am completely in love with the pieces I am creating. However, there have been times where the battle between art and business has been really challenging. The conflict between creating what you are drawn to create and creating what is easy to sell can be very difficult. This year I have learned a great deal about who I create jewelry for. When you are an artist, especially a wearable artist, your art isn’t going to be for everyone. I have learned who will love and who won’t love my jewelry and it’s ok that not everyone is going to love what I create. So as I create new designs, I follow my heart, focus on what I love and what I want to wear because my clients are just like me. My jewelry is for the hippies, the cowgirls, and the bikers, the three wild women inside of me, the wild women inside of my clients, whether they are on the surface for the world to see, or deep down trying to break free.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I had a friend come in to town, the first place I would take them is Mala Market, a collective retail boutique for Houston-based makers and the brick and mortar store where I sell all of my jewelry. Besides being excited to share where I have all my jewelry, I just love the space and community so much. The next stop on my journey of favorite spots would have to be SheSpace, a women’s coworking space where I have met so many incredible entrepreneurs, peers, and mentors. For dinner, we would grab some ramen at Jinya, sushi from Soma, or italian from Marmo. As an artist, I would love to take them to a few of our incredible art galleries here in Houston. We would stroll through Memorial Park and wander around the Galleria. I would also take them to spend a day in Galveston relaxing on the beach and checking out the architecture.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would love to dedicate my shoutout to my husband. Without his support, I never would have followed my curiosity to become a self-taught silversmith. Traveling through the Southwest on a road trip with my dog, I discovered the work of the native silversmiths, and as fate would have it, while I was camped in my jeep at night, I discovered the work of contemporary silversmiths on instagram. As the inspiration to dive in to silversmithing grew inside of me, I called my husband as it grew dark where I was tucked among the trees in Kaibab National Forest. I excitedly, and slightly nervously, explained my idea to my husband, unsure if it was even possible, and with absolutely zero hesitation, he told me to go for it. He told me to just try. His support gave me the courage to dive headfirst and I have loved every moment of the journey.

Website: https://www.lisamariestudiosco.com/

Instagram: @lisa.mariestudios

Image Credits
All photos taken by me, Lisa Marie Emmitte