Carolyn Merrifield PHOTO BY JOSHUA KODIS

The pandemic changed the lives of everyone, for better or worse, and jewelry artist Carolyn Merrifield is no exception.

In April 2020, Merrifield and her husband moved from Maryland to a home in Sebastian they had purchased in 2019, in anticipation of his retirement.

“We’re water people. We loved the Chesapeake Bay, but summer was only three months long, and then it’s cold,” says Merrifield.

A graduate of the University of Delaware with a degree in interior design, Merrifield spent more than 30 years directing large-scale, multisite design, construction and renovation projects for clients across a diverse range of industries, including healthcare, banking and hospitality, and she had planned to continue in the field, even after relocating.

In her spare time, she had taken some art classes at a Maryland community college and when business closures and layoffs put a halt to her career plans, she turned her attention to what had once been a hobby.

“My goal, when I retired, was to be a potter, with a studio in my house,” says Merrifield. “I had taken every class they had in ceramics, and I decided to try something different. I stumbled on a jewelry-making class and gave it a try. I was instantly hooked.”

Once in Florida, they constructed a studio in a section of their garage where she could focus on metalsmithing, which soon became a full-time endeavor.

“If COVID hadn’t happened, I would have taken a business job, and continued to dabble with jewelry-making on weekends. Because of COVID, I learned in three years what it would have taken me 30 years to learn part-time,” says Merrifield.

“I think I am a pyromaniac at heart. Once I got the torches in my hand, and I started melting things, I thought, ‘Oh my poor husband!’”

She discovered that she was quite adept at creating striking and completely unique pieces.

“That’s because I’m not making jewelry,” she explains. “I’m making sculptures of what I see and feel, and things that are important to me, sculptures of what I love. It just happens to be small.”

Merrifield says she finds limitless inspiration from nature’s bounty.

“I am at the same time impressed and humbled by the beauty of our planet. We were sitting on the deck of a restaurant overlooking the lagoon, and I noticed the sand was in such an interesting pattern,” says Merrifield.

She took a photo and channeled those flowing lines of sand into several pieces of jewelry.

Similarly, she has created jewelry using unusual stones, flat sheets of metal, or even bits of wire.

“I never duplicate a design; they are all one of a kind,” she says.

“I continued to experiment with and hone my skills in multiple techniques during my spare time, mostly on weekends in the beginning. The new scenery of Florida and the ability to work full time fueled my creativity.”

Merrifield began attending arts and craft shows in Sebastian, Vero Beach and Melbourne, and in 2022 joined the Vero Beach Art Club, which opened up a world of opportunities.

“You just don’t know where life will take you. I was in my first show, Art by the Sea, in 2023, and won First Prize in jewelry. That led to a consignment opportunity at Artists Guild Gallery,” says Merrifield, who calls her jewelry business Earthly Wearable Art.

Having started in copper, Merrifield now primarily works in silver.

“It is just so much easier to manipulate and solder. I think it’s a cleaner looking metal and appeals to more people. Occasionally I will throw gold to a piece, which is actually easier to work with than silver. It is just so expensive, it’s tough to keep an inventory of gold pieces.”

She enjoys utilizing the ancient Korean gilding technique Keum-Boo, where 24-carat gold foil is applied to the surface of sterling silver using heat and pressure.

“It’s not like gold plate. It’s bonded into the other metal, and won’t wear off. It’s a beautiful technique.”

The work is often trial and error, especially when using a torch.

“The mistakes and mess-ups, you just melt down and try again. You learn what chemicals do what to the metal. Nothing is wasted. You just try and be creative,” she explains, likening jewelry making to a science project.

“It’s like art, but you have to know all these chemicals, playing with different ones to know what they will do. You can change the color of metal with fire or heat or chemicals. You can put a boiled egg into a container and put the metal in there and the metal will turn a color, because of sulfur. It’s very cool.”

Merrifield has learned tips, tricks and techniques by listening to other artists.

“People are very willing to share techniques and learning. There really are no new techniques,” she says, commenting that while there may be new ways of doing things, people have been creating jewelry for thousands of years.

“There’s a process, you can’t rush things. It teaches you patience.”

One unusual source of material she discovered comes from old car factories. After decades of hand-spray painting vehicles, their walls and equipment are replete with layers and layers of enamel paint colors. The thick, hard material is now being ‘mined,’ and polished into industrial gemstones known as Fordite, Detroit agate or Motor City agate.

Merrifield made a ring with Detroit agate that shows striations of colors, explaining that the lightweight ‘stones’ can be shaped and polished and, if it gets a scratch, can be buffed just as you would a car.

She also works with natural stones, either tumbling them herself or purchasing them from a lapidary.

“Sometimes I see a stone that just catches my eye, so I will buy it and I know some idea will come to me of how to use it. Stones make it easy. They tell you what to do. Nature gives unlimited material,” says Merrifield, who likes to try things beyond her skill level.

“I do like to push myself. I have to make something complicated. It’s been an exciting time these last couple of years.”

Her jewelry can be found at the Artists Guild Gallery and at the Vero Beach Art Club Gallery.

Photos by Joshua Kodis