Zhari Designs

Marsha Herman

Several years ago, the New York Times printed an article about “women swimming against the tide.” The “Tide” was the increase of technology in the workplace. This article featured women who had decided to leave various professional careers and go back to making crafts by hand, including jewelry. I was intrigued by the idea that someone could change goals midlife and pursue a career in something they love.

Since childhood I had been interested in all kinds of Art Craft: calligraphy, knitting & crocheting, gold leaf application, and small sculptural items. Since I love to sculpt, I immediately thought of making jewelry. I left my administrative job, took on a small private practice in speech therapy to support myself and dove straight into trying to learn 7000 years of jewelry crafts. I was in awe with the beautiful hand made and fabricated jewelry I'd seen in museums and galleries and started taking classes at the Jewelry Arts Institute in NYC., as well as occasional classes at other schools and craft centers. A few years later, I added classes in wax carving to expand my skills. I also became interested in using wire to crochet and knit elements into jewelry.

During the last ten years I have been experimenting with using different techniques together including crocheting 22k gold with precious stones, braiding wax wire and casting it, and applying hand fabricated decorations to cast pieces. The beautiful colors and shapes of semi-precious stone beads have also caught my eye and I have woven and strung them in traditional and new ways, many achieved serendipitously (in other words, by mistake.) Since my training has not been formal, I find that I have no pre-conceived ideas about what is correct and what isn't, and some unique creations have evolved. Of course, the occasional piece finds itself melted down and sold for scrap.

Although I have exhibited at two major craft shows, I much prefer to sell to individual clients where I can design and hopefully create something that pleases both the customer and me. In addition, I do trunk shows and private parties.

The company is named after my grandmother to honor her, my mother and her seven sisters who were all frustrated artists.