Third and Patterson: Julia Dziuba / Jewelry Designer

Interview with Jewelry Designer, Julia Dziuba

I first met Julia in the early autumn of 2006. Brian and I were hauling boxes up to our new apartment and trading hello's with a calico cat sitting on the stairs. During one of our trips from the truck, we rounded the corner to see Julia and her husband, Ted, waiting for us at the bottom of the stairs. "Welcome to the neighborhood!" Julia squealed with open arms. We've been dear friends ever since.

I have had the pleasure of observing Julia grow as an artist and jewelry designer over the years. I commissioned her to design pieces for friends and family who participated in my wedding back in 2007, and I personally wear a few of her creations almost on a weekly basis. I have been stopped in the grocery store, at parties, and on the street by people asking me where I found such a beautiful and unique piece of jewelry.

Her colorful collaged and beaded collections are uniquely textural and sophisticated. Using beads, shells, stones, glass, pearls, semi-precious gems and metal, her pieces juxtapose spirited movement with calculated arrangement. Julia's designs are perfect for both elegant soirées or every day wear. If you are looking for an artistic piece to accent your little black dress or an original and memorable gift for a friend, Julia's shop or site is surely the first place to look!

To learn more about Julia, purchase her jewelry, or to work with her on a personalized piece, visit www.juliadziuba.com.

Megan: How did you get your start as a jewelry designer?

Julia: My start…A start kind of implies a discreet time point. I don’t think about it like that. It’s a journey I will always be on. I’ve always created - created from scratch with no instructions or patterns (designed). I’ve been through an array of medium from fabric to threads and yarns and from paint, to beads, to resins and metals. I’ve been focusing on jewelry the last several years and just this past year started learning metalsmithing. I think I’ll always feel like I’m just becoming the designer I’d like to be because that is the nature of good design. It keeps us all moving forward, even the designer.

Megan: What do you love most about designing and creating your own jewelry?

Julia: I love every bit of it. From that faint fluttering of a new design materializing to the flame that sparks in the eye of a customer when they pick up a piece of yours that speaks to them. Every piece is different and its birth, development and final home are different. Put all the pieces collectively are progressive. They build on each other. They almost seem to be taking me for the ride.

Megan: Were do you draw your inspiration from?

Julia: Nature. I am very moved by nature. It can be peaceful and calming and intricate and exhilarating – sometimes at the same time. It builds on itself and can form unexpected structures from simple patterns. I try to incorporate all of these things into my own pieces.

Megan: What makes your collections unique in the industry?

Julia: Intricacy and fine detail. No matter what materials you are using, intricacy takes time and can be tedious. This turns some jewelry designers off but I really love this type of work. I have a couple of different styles of jewelry but attention to fine details is a thread that runs through all of them.

Megan: What are some of your favorite materials to work with and create with?

Julia: I don’t have favorites. Many of my materials have an organic feel to them. For instance, I have a wide selection of semi-precious gemstones and shells. But it’s really about what the piece needs. On more than one occasion, I worked sequence in to make an area “pop.”

Megan: What is your favorite piece you’ve ever created – and what made it so special?

Julia: That’s a hard one. A couple come to mind but my favorite at the moment is Aventurine Forest. The piece has a pretty chaotic feel to it, but it was actually created from a very concise design, which the back of the piece reveals with an orderly net of beads. It just really appeals to me, and I’ve found most people have the same reaction. You can read my blog post about it here.

Megan: Who do you envision wearing your work? Do you think about this when you work on a design?

Julia: If the piece is commissioned, then I work with the client to have a very clear picture of the future owner. I want the piece to complement them. Non-commissioned work has no particular owner in mind. I’d expect the owners to be found of nature and strong individuals but I cannot say more beyond that. I am sometimes surprised to whom the pieces speak. Jewelry is a very unique art form in that it is a part of everyday life and people can use it to say something about themselves or their mood.

Megan: What gives you the most pleasure in your career as a jewelry designer?

Julia: I get the most pleasure by simply having a career as a designer. I’m doing it. It challenges me in many ways, and I love the person I am growing into because of it. It is rare to have the opportunity to follow something you love with all of yourself and that’s what I’m doing.

Megan: What are your plans for the coming future?

Julia: I have many plans. My degree is actually in applied mathematics, and I’ve been employed as a mathematical modeler for the last seven years with Archimedes Inc. In early March, I will be saying thank you and farewell and pivoting my career to focus only in the art space. I plan to develop my jewelry making skills and find new venues to sell my work. In addition to this, I will be working on developing art inventory and client management software for fellow artists and myself.