Jewelry design has become a therapeutic outlet for local jewelry maker Elizabeth Martin.
As 225 details in a feature from the current issue, Martin began designing jewelry in 2013 after struggling with multiple family issues at once. While she was working as a district manager for a pharmaceutical company, her mom suffered a heart attack and stroke.
She tried to balance work and caring for her mom, who lived an hour away, but it proved difficult and she soon retired to focus on family. About a month and a half later, her mom passed away. Two weeks after that, her son was diagnosed with cancer.
The jewelry Martin makes pays homage to her mom, but also her dad. She gets her creative side from her mom, who painted, sculpted and drew. From her dad, she channels her inner handyman, using different tools and molds to shape the jewelry.
The name of Martin’s business, Firefly, comes from “finding light in the darkness.”
“I yearned to be more creative or do more creative things, so it just seemed like the right time,” she says.
Martin’s jewelry has gained popularity in the online marketplace. All of the Shou Sugi Ban—or torched cypress wood—pieces she has crafted and featured on her Etsy.com page have been sold. Her online customers hail from cities across the United States and 15 countries.
Her designs are minimal and modern.
“I really tend to like clean, minimal, geometric designs more than anything else,” she says.
Martin primarily works with concrete pieces now, but originally started designing jewelry and accessories with Legos.
Using such unique materials means the designs take a lot of trial and error, Martin says.
She keeps on hand different tools, such as sandblasting equipment and a drill press, in addition to the usual jewelry-making necessities.
