Suzzette O’Dell has been a craftsperson for over 40 years. She found herself drawn into the arts at an early age.
Living in Heidelberg, Germany (1965 – 1970), Suz studied photography, and traveled to other countries with her camera. In the early 80s she began working as a professional photographer in California’s film and commercial industries and spent over 12 years as a freelance photographer, and film production manager.
In the early 90s, Suz continued her pursuit of the arts by studying Lapidary and Metalsmithing at Sharon Arts Studio in San Francisco, California. She continues to satisfy her curiosity about the rich array of our planet’s gemstones.
Suz carefully embellishes metals (silver, bronze, copper) by texturing and hand stamping. This is the foundation for the hand-lapped gemstones she uses. Selected for rich color, and clarity, the gemstones are set into the worked metal…creating a limited studio line and one-of-a-kind works.
In addition to fabrication, Suz uses precious metal clays in her work. The metal clays allow her to hand-cast individual pieces by hand-carving, and use of molds, permitting her to further influence the metals she uses. Suz became a certified Precious Metal Clay teacher in 1998 and had taught at art centers in Northern California and Washington for 20 years.
