Hi. I’m Jennifer and yes, my last name really is Snowhite. My metalworking evolved through an unusual route…
In my 20s, in the middle of medical school, I had a windsurfing accident that left me with sepsis and messed up my health for years. I started making jewellery, first plastic and then gold, as a way to stay occupied.
My mother took me to Lourdes for a “healing”. I don’t know how effective that was in terms of my physical health, but something in my life shifted when I saw the ironwork in France. It blew my mind. 🤯
That led me to blacksmithing. I studied at The Penland School in the mountains of North Carolina, first under British sculptor Peter Parkinson, and then with Nol Putnam, blacksmith to the National Cathedral in Washington DC.
I have been lucky to work on some incredible projects. For example, you can see a dogwood flower I did with Peter Parkinson on the iron gates of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London.
My initial blacksmithing interest was in furniture, garden and household items, but I have recently returned to creating pieces for human ornamentation. This full circle moment feels like the perfect combination of passions.
The stunning iron gates at Shakespeare’s Globe in London.
As a young blacksmith at Penland. I have always loved the elemental and physically engaging aspects of this art form. I wish I still had these overalls.
The classic 1930 illustration by Otto Kubel in which Snowhite was bedridden. Maybe she was dreaming of metalwork.
My business has grown out of wearing my own jewellery. It dresses up really well, even for fancy events, like this one, a film festival in LA.