Porcelain + Stone

Kimberly Huestis‘ jewelry line- Porcelain and Stone, melds ceramic artistry with gold and other precious metals to form beautifully elegant pieces of nautical inspired jewelry. Founded in 2012, Kimberley’s hard work and unique style: bringing a ‘lightness’ to her ceramics while establishing a hint of glamour with her precious metals- has paid off. Her growth has been quite lovely in just a short period, being sold all over the United States and internationally, as well as being a featured Etsy designer maker and featured by Vogue. 

A true coastal baby, Kimberly was born in Vermont and calls Boston home now, where all of her pieces are handcrafted. Through her work as a structural designer at an engineering firm, Kimberly fell more in love with sculpture, 3D modelling. Having a nickel allergy, combined with the monotonous and mainstream design and material usage in the fine jewelry sector, Kimberly decided to do it herself! Following movement and organic shapes has led Kimberley to what we see and are in love with today! Truly inspired by the environment both artistically  and personally, Kimberly is also a LEED AP environmental consultant in her (other) professional life.

One of the things we admire most is the weight of her pieces. Ceramic jewelry can be quite heavy, but Kimberly creates sleek pieces that- while carrying a light elegance, still have substance, and can be seen to mirror the idea of the glamorous woman: light as a feather, but of significant depth.

Porcelain has historically been used to create Imperial Chinese vessels in Asian pottery for centuries! I am drawn to the history of porcelain as much as I am drawn to the nature of wonderful humans in our desire to wear something special. Since even the cave ages, we have historically found evidence of self-adornment and decoration!

I enjoyed hands-on activities like drawing, sculpting in clay, digging up dirt, or hammering rocks just to see what they looked like inside. Those experimental days were probably what helped shape my willingness to experiment when I design today.

The jewelry designs are based on the female body. I always design with a graceful sort of woman in my mind. Generally, this is inspiration enough, but I also love to draw from my surroundings and a lot of what I find interesting …happens to be nautical or very coastal.

For makers—and anyone really—I love to remind myself that everything is a choice. You choose to say yes, and you choose to say no. You always have yourself to blame for your choices… and I like that. My conscious choice since I started was to always plan as if I was going to succeed. I didn’t look for short term options. I was planning for long term growth. I was investing my time and my personal savings into something I believed in, and it was me. It can be hard to believe you might really be able to do something when you have no directions to follow, so I set myself up with achievable milestones that created steps to help me reach my bigger goals. Something that can really deplete your opinion about yourself as you blow through your personal finances, can then turn into something measurable that boosts your confidence.

 

 

 

Images courtesy of Porcelain and Stone.