This is Me

by Cristina of Cristina Hurley Jewelry

Hi this is me

Cristina Hurley

37 years old

married(somewhat happily) :)

Have 1 beautiful daughter.

I live in Canton, MA

For almost 7 years now.

This is my home studio.

It is all of the following:

cramped

not too clean

in my living room

loud at times.

It is also the following:
fun
creative
challenging
in my living room
Hence
jammy jewelry making at all hours.

Lots of good stuff

has come out of this cramped little space.

BH:How long have you been doing your artwork/craft?

cphurley: I have been making jewelry since I was 18 years old, so about 19 years now. WOW!

BH:What first made you want to become an artist?

cphurley: This is the honest truth and not very sexy or profound, but an ex-boyfriend suggested I try art classes when I was slacking and getting into trouble too much after high school.

BH:Who is your mentor if you have one?

cphurley: My mentor for a long time was Jeannette Fossas, an amazing jewelry designer from Puerto Rico, where I grew up. She taught me my first jewelry class, and made me her apprentice after liking my work. That was an amazing time for me, waking up to what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

BH: Please describe your creative process (how, when, materials, etc).

cphurley: I fabricate on the most part, out of sterling sheet and wire. I have started to make masters for some cast pieces as well. But those begin as fabrications too. I also use a lot of semiprecious stones and beads as accents, but the emphasis is always on the metal.

As you can see in the piece above, the Pyramid shape is fabricated, building up with wire one by one, then the pyramid shaped stone is set onto the top.

BH:What inspires you?

cphurley: Ancient Civilizations and their architecture. Egypt is the most obvious, but I found out over the years that there are pyramids all over the world in many different cultures. I'm also inspired by spiritual architecture, like cathedrals and Stonehenge, for example.

BH:Is there anything about you that would surprise people to know?

cphurley:I guess the one thing people always seem surprised about with me is that I'm Puertorican, I was born there and raised there most of my life. I have no accent because my mother is American, and I watched tons of cable while living there, so my English is really good. Great thing is, so is my Spanish! I'm 100% fluent.

The other thing that always surprises people about me is that my entire immediate family is musicians; my mom is an opera singer, my dad is an orchestra conductor, and my sister is a violinist. People are always surprised that I don't play an instrument. I know HOW to play lots of instruments, just not well.

BH:Where do you see yourself in 5 years with your art ?

My pipe dream(well, not really, it's gonna happen eventually)-is a store, a retail space selling my art and art by people I love and believe in. That would be the ultimate for me. Cherry on the cake would be if it were walking distance from my house(also working on this).

BH:In ten years I'd like to be...

cphurley: As Wesley said in The Princess Bride, in regards to the Real Dread Pirate Roberts: "Living like a King in Patagonia!" :)