Jewelry by Jocylyn
by Carlee Marrer-Tising
To make beautiful jewelry, many things have to come together: artistic talent, skills in the various techniques, a sense of adventure, creativity, a love of handcrafting, a love of the materials to be used, as well as love and respect for the tools necessary to create the jewelry. In addition to the things that make a person a successful craftsman, people skills and the ability to match the right piece of jewelry with the right buyer are also essential. Lucky the jewelry lover who finds a jeweler who meets all of these criteria and on top of it all has a passion for his or her work and considers it a vocation rather than just a means of earning money!
Jewelers of this caliber are few and far between, but I have been fortunate enough to meet a few of them in the course of my years of jewelry collecting. Lesley Lane, also a Sphynx lover and cat jewelry fan, introduced me to Jocelyn Mac-Donald, a young Canadian jeweler who created a beautiful Sphynx pendant using Leslie‘s cat as a model. I liked the pendant so much when I first saw it, I asked Leslie if she would mind my having one too. Thanks to her generosity and willingness to share, I, too, have this wonderful piece in my collection. Not only do I admire Jocelyn‘s work, I am also quite taken with her philosophy.
 One of Jocelyn‘s strengths is her desire to try new things: ―Most of my work is about line qualities and explorations. If a line is used correctly, a person can express so many emotions and gestures and give character to the work regardless of the medium it‘s made from.
The medium she uses most often is silver. She goes on to say, ―In the craft world you are constantly reading up on new techniques and giving them a try. Most times it‘s experimenting that gives you your best result! Always question and try new things.
The unusual ring illustrated on the left is a result of this thinking.
Jocelyn works in a small studio she has set up in her home. She has a variety of tools, especially small hand tools such as saws, drills, pliers, cutters, and files. She also has a torch, a polishing unit and different acids to clean and create differ-ent finishes on her work. Although she does not have a shop of her own yet, she showcases her work at her other jobs (flower shop and pancake house) and in this way she is able to display her jewelry and make it available to the public. As she says, ―Just a small display case up at the front, and you‘d be surprised how many people get jewelry when eating breakfast!
She mostly gets commission work, usually from word of mouth, and more people give her custom orders than buy ready-made pieces: ―A lot of people already have an idea of what they‘d like, but they need someone to execute it and maybe
How did the Sphynx pendant come about? ―I actually was approached to make the Sphynx necklace by a customer of mine. She was  quite the animal lover and was active in the helping of animals. She brought me in a picture of her cat and asked me to design a pendant for her. It was one of the first animal pieces that I've done! I really enjoyed making it. It was different and out of the box from the conservative style that is out in many retail stores.
When asked exactly how she made the piece, she described the process as follows: ―I dissected the picture of her cat....breaking down the layers in the cat‘s face. From there I took each layer and cut it out of silver. Once the layers were cut I pieced the layers back together to make a graphic 3-dimensional face of the cat. From there I soldered them all together and used an acid on various areas of the face to bring a bit more depth to the piece. And when all completed it was a cat pendant with character!
Not everyone owns a hairless cat! I felt it suited the owner, as she was an individual herself.
Jocelyn truly enjoys creating a piece to fit an individual: ―There is nothing better than to see the person‘s face when they see the piece for the first time! And since her pieces are one-of-a-kind, handmade pieces, she has this pleasure every time someone asks her to make something special.
Referring again to the Sphynx pendant, Jocelyn mentioned that the piece was not technically hard to make; the challenge was to capture the expression on the cat‘s face. ―I didn‘t want it to just be a cat pendant, I wanted it to be a representation of her actual cat and maintain its personality. It is not surprising that Jocelyn is able to determine the personality of a cat by seeing its picture because she is certainly no stranger to animals. She has many animals of her own, including dogs, cats, rabbits, mice, guinea pigs, chickens, and fish! She holds her animals in high regard. ―I think animals hold a special place in all of our hearts. They are innocent beings that, although some are more self sufficient, need our love and affection. They are part of the family. They make us laugh, make us cry, test our patience at times, they are good listeners who won‘t interrupt us, and they can make us feel wanted. There are clothes, carriers, and spas, all for our beloved companions. It wouldn't surprise me if more people started looking for more jewelry...for them or their pets!
We love to have pictures and other representations of our animals to show our friends; ―It‘s the same idea as a charm bracelet, says Jocelyn. ―People put things on them that are important to them and remind them of things in their life…so why not your best animal friend?
Anyone who would like to have a piece of jewelry designed after their own cat‘s photo can reach Jocelyn by e-mail jam_925@msn.com
Carlee Marrer-Tising is a breeder living in the Netherlands. She is also the Owner/Moderator for the SphynxFriends Group at Yahoo!
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