Pearl Spinner Earrings by Kenneth Pillsworth
4mm freshwater white pearls are surrounded by sterling silver circles and encased in sterling silver squares.
Size: approximately 1" long
Handmade by Kenneth Pillsworth in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.
Kenneth Pillsworth is a jewelry designer and maker working with metals and unusual gemstones to create stunning artisanal and wearable pieces.
Born in 1969, Kenneth was raised in the Hudson Valley of New York, where he displayed an early affinity for the arts. His background in fine metal work began just after high school when he had the opportunity to apprentice with William Scholl, a master goldsmith.
After time spent traveling and studying, Kenneth visited Martha’s Vineyard and was drawn to the vibrant jewelry scene emerging on the Island in the early nineties. It was here that he honed his skills as a fine arts jeweler, apprenticing for both Paul D’Olympia and Richard Hamilton, while working after-hours on his own pieces. For a time, he worked and lived above Claudia Jewelry in Edgartown. “I wanted to go in a new direction and have my own thing. Claudia let me work in the studio at night,” Kenneth says. “Having that time by myself was instrumental.”
Kenneth started his own business in 1995 and was one of the original exhibiting artists at the Vineyard Artisan's Festivals on Martha's Vineyard. In 1996 Kenneth Pillsworth and three other jewelers formed the Edgartown Jewelers Studio, and Kenneth continued to share this space until 1998 when he decided to create his own studio in his home.
Each piece of jewelry Kenneth creates is an individual composition, conveying a specific statement. His pieces are stark and utilitarian, but striking in their simplicity, and consist of layered metals in different textures blended together in unusual ways. Kenneth exploits the properties of the metals he works with, starting out with the larger forms and “sprinkling” in the smaller, moving around the shapes as he “sketches” out his concepts in metal, creating abstract and often surprising new forms.
When working with stones or gems, Kenneth forms the concept for the piece around the stone he is featuring, building the design around its inherent features. “The materials dictate what I do,” he says. The finished product is a masterful combination of artistry and skilled craftsmanship.
Each year Kenneth travels to gem shows in Tuscon, Arizona, where he sources and is invigorated by the new materials he finds there. But no place has had more of an impact on his work than the Island of Martha’s Vineyard, where he has lived for the last thirty years. “The island has transformed my life and my work,” he says.
Find more of Kenneth's work here.
