Close Up with Ashley Nizolek

I recently had the opportunity to ask some questions to an amazing jewelry designer, Ashley Nizolek, founder of A.N. Original Jewelry. Not only is Ashley's jewelry beautiful, talking with her was very inspiring.

From Saratoga Springs, New York, Ashley attended The Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and majored in Jewelry Design. After finishing the program, Ashley knew she was destined to start her own jewelry line and would stop at nothing short of that. "I'm not sure if at any point I ever had jewelry as a hobby, Ive always been pretty serious. Once I began making jewelry it consumed my life fully, I think that’s how you continue to improve, you just need to immerse yourself in your craft," she explains.

The Business
Designing jewelry is obviously Ashley's #1 passion, but is also her full-time job. What a wonderful achievement in life, to be able to make your life's goal a reality. When asked about going on her own and starting her business, Ashley replied, "It was very stressful at first to get my business set up accordingly and to make sure I had all my bases covered. Now that I have been in business for a couple of years, I’m much more comfortable with owning my own business and I really realize now that it’s up to me to make this work, so I keep pushing forward and dealing with the bumps along the way. When you own your own business there are good and bad days, I just like to pay more attention to the good days, helps keep me sane!"

I asked Ashley what her favourite piece was and she shared this story of perseverance, "My favorite piece I ever made was a hinged sterling silver bracelet I made as a final project while in school for jewelry. At the time, I was incredibly intimidated by the project and had very little time left to do it. I ended up getting it done on my very last day at F.I.T. and was able to turn it in to one of my favorite professors who gave me a big hug an a pat on the back. I was really proud of myself that I pushed through and got it done, and did it well!" I love this story because I think we can all relate to getting stuck working on a piece, and feeling like giving up. This story shows though that ticking with it can have great outcomes!

Ashley prides herself on staying true to her art form and the creative process. Not allowing herself to be swayed by others' opinions. She believes each artist has their own unique vision and therefore you will never be in complete agreement with your critics. Listening to all the chirping around you, makes it easy to begin to lose your own voice in the mix. Ashley is most concerned with making sure she is not too heavily influenced by outside opinions because as soon as that starts to saturate her brain, jewelry will lose the joy it currently brings to her life.


From Concept to Creation
All of Ashley's pieces pretty much start from a fairly unassuming doodle. She says, "I am not a very structured sketcher, it needs to be organic and unforced. I never like what I come up with if I say to myself, 'ok I need to sit down and do some more designs a 10:00am.' That just will never work for me." Once a sketch is complete, Ashley plays around with different sizes to see which she likes best and which size allows the design to shine. The design is then epoxied onto a piece of sheet metal and after its finished drying small holes are drilled and she uses a jewelers saw and very tiny saw blades to saw out each section of the design. Next a file takes away any imperfections from sawing and edges are sanded. What happens next depends upon the specific piece of jewelry. Some are soldered, some are sanded, then polished, and tumbled to a shine!

Inspiration
Ashley says, "I'm really inspired by a myriad of things. Art, music, nature…but lately Ive been quite inspired by actual people, and often not people that I know. I will often see a woman walking around all dressed up (or dressed down) and think , “OK, where is this woman going, what is she like, what music does she listen to…” I start to basically imagine what her life might be like and am able to mentally place a piece of jewelry on her. I usually can imagine the piece of jewelry on a person before Ive even touched the metal. So when I get stumped for new designs, I love to go hang out and people watch."

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
Ashley's designs have graced the necks of Warner Brothers recording artist Mozella, to wear at a Diane Von Furstenberg Charity Event, to a VH1 Save The Music Event and on her tour opening up for Lifehouse, Dave Matthews Band and Five For Fighting. As well you may have seen her work on Jessie Baylin who is an up and coming blue/folk/jazz singer.


Be sure to check out Ashley's jewelry at http://anoriginaljewelry.etsy.com. With a huge variety of lavish scrolls, and organic, free-spirited designs, as well as a mix of items that can only be described as simplistic elegance, there is something here for everyone!

Related Links:
A.N. Original Jewelry Official Website: http://www.anoriginaljewelry.com/
Shop: http://anoriginaljewelry.etsy.com