Collection: Artist: Molly Sharp

My journey into metalsmithing began over four decades ago when I lived in England where I studied metals through a continuing education program learning some of the basic, traditional European techniques. When I returned to the United States to live, I continued my education at Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina and The Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in Tennessee. In 2017 I traveled to Florence, Italy to study with a master goldsmith.

I became a full time jeweler and a member of the prestigious Southern Highland Craft Guild in 1996 in Asheville, North Carolina. In 1997 my husband, potter David Voorhees, and I opened a very successful craft gallery which we owned for 16 years. We carried over 200 artists' work, many of which were members of the Southern Highland Craft Guild and local to Western North Carolina.

I continue to be a full time jeweler and educator, teaching at John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC; North House Folk School in Grand Marais, MN; Hacienda Mosaico in Puerto Vallarta, MX; Cornwall School of Art Craft and Jewellery in St. Austell, UK; Miami University in Oxford, OH; Appalachian Center for Crafts in Cooksville, TN; Flux Metal Arts in Mentor, OH and Ignite Jewelry Studio in Asheville, NC as well as my own home studio in Zirconia, NC. My work is meticulously fabricated from sterling silver and gold. Over the years I've developed a style of textured and oxidized pieces, often with the use of constructed hollow forms, hinges and the incorporation of tiny, unpolished pebbles. My work can be found in several galleries and on my website at mollysharpmetalsmith.com.