Artist Series - Sherry Truitt

When I first saw Sherry's creative jewelry all that came to my mind was...how cool! Such ordinary objects turned into extraordinary works of art. It also made me smile and chuckle, because I thought of the numerous times I have spent with a level in my hand. Or, examining a map trying to find my way...hmmm I wonder what she can turn a GPS unit into? On a personal level Sherry is outspoken, helpful, and funny. In the Etsy forums I have seen her help people with advice on how to get noticed. It is certainly with her determination and grace that she has become successful with her line of creative jewelry. You can visit with Sherry more below, or on her blog So, Sherry.

1. When did you become interested in art and did you choose art, or did it choose you?

Art chose me at a young age. Not traditional art, like drawing or painting, but three-dimensional art. I was given an erector set at the age of three, and I was always building something. I liked to mix sets, like tinker toys, Lincoln logs and blocks to build small cities. My grandmother would take photos for me, so I could recreate scenes when we got home.

2. You get to spend one weekend each with three historical figures, an artist, a writer and one of your choice. Who are they and what will you talk about?

What a weekend that would be. I would choose Thomas Mann as the artist. He is the consummate metal smith of our generation. He is the first artist I ever met that taught me it was ok to want to be successful, and how to be a businessperson as well as a designer. He teaches a course called, Design for Survival. I’d just love to sit and listen to how he comfortably blends the juxtaposition of art and business. I’d most like to meet the writer, Alice Hoffman. She has a delicious blend of fantasy and reality woven into the most ordinary characters that become extraordinary. I would just listen to whatever she had to say. Finally, I would like to meet Henri Cartier-Bresson, my favorite photographer of all time. One day, I want to become a very good photographer, in this lifetime.

3. Do any of these choices influence your work?

What really influences my work is the world around me. I love the tools of everyday man; it’s a great joy to turn those items, a spirit level, a compass, a map into wearable art.

4. Has the popularity of the internet affected your work?

Oh my yes, I could not otherwise have the world at my fingertips.

5. Have you discovered any new techniques to creating your work that you can share?

I have techniques, and I think they are unique of how I put my work together. Like, precision grinding the levels to fit in sterling caps, or how to bond copper and sterling for my map pieces, but I’m not ready to share them. It was a two-year period of trial and error with the levels, and finally it was my lovely husband who came up with the final technique.

6. How do you overcome artist block?

I carry a graph paper moleskine with me wherever I go. It’s filled with words and sketches and doodles. If I’m having trouble deciding what direction to go on, I just open it, and the work begins.

7. Describe something that comes up in your work because of a life experience.

I did a series of pins for the war in Iraq. I had to keep busy when the war first escalated, and it kept me from feeling helpless.

8. If I walked into your studio this moment what would you show me first? What would you want to hide?

I am working on some sculpture with maps. I am not sure how it will evolve, or if I will sell it, but it is interesting. I really have nothing to hide.

9. Describe what you do, or who you are in a haiku.

It is from shadows
That we finally see light
And journey onward

10. Is there anything else that you would like to share?

That I am grateful for my family and blessed to wake every day to do what I love.