We are the
SANTA FE STUDIO ARTS COLLECTIVE:
a creative force in Santa Fe!
Unique Memory Necklaces - Straight from the heart !
Having been involved in roughly fourteen Santa Fe Studio Tours, Kris is one of the longest currently participating members and volunteers. She has served on the SFSAC Board and on many committees during her tenure with the Tour. In fact, she was the Committee Lead for the 2021 Preview Gallery at the Santa Fe Woman’s Club. What a successful Preview Gallery – 282 people attended the Friday Opening Reception!
A resident of Santa Fe, Kris is originally from Chicago and worked for many years as an accountant before redirecting her talents to the arts. She earned an accounting degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago and then worked as an auditor for one of the Big-8 accounting firms. She eventually started teaching accounting to art students at Columbia College in Chicago, but soon moved to Hong Kong with her husband.
Her move to Santa Fe saw her making jewelry and pottery more intensively and a sculptor friend encouraged her to join the Studio Tour. She had already become interested in small objects and artifacts and began to incorporate these into her jewelry. Kris searches for different and unusual objects to include in her jewelry.
She creates what she calls “memory necklaces” where people provide personal keepsakes like wedding rings and other personal objects and memorabilia. Her creations not only involve incorporating these individual elements into her jewelry, but also involves learning about the client and personalizing the piece to suit the wishes and memories of the client. She has to learn about her client and this can become quite emotional for her.
Having been a studio artist for quite a while, Kris advises artists to persevere, especially with a venue like the Santa Fe Studio Tour. “You just can’t do this once. You have to hang in there and do your part to make it work for you.” She has seen a steady increase in the number of people that come to her studio during the Tour, and this has allowed her to grow her business steadily over the years.
She sells her work under the Dirt Road Jewelry name and is represented by Barbara Bowles Fine Art and Jewelry Gallery in Santa Fe. She sells her work in different markets and online. You can learn more about Kris and her work by visiting her website. Dirt Road Jewelry LLC | Custom Wearable Art, Necklaces, Bracelets and Earrings from Santa Fe, New Mexico.
thanks to the generous support of our partners
Santa Fe Studio Arts Collective Presents . . .
New works by 19 member artists in a Pop Up Show at the Nocturne818 Gallery near the Railyard during Art Week . . .