Jessica McGrath

About the Artist

Artist Bio I graduated from Simmons College in Boston, MA with a degree in Retail Management and got married in 1992 to my wonderful husband who is an active duty Naval Officer.  We have spent the last 27 years moving around the country from duty station to duty station, a total of 11 times, and have lived in eight different states.  I have worked in the retail management and buying fields for 15 years in many different sizes and kinds of organizations, with extensive experience in both store-line and buying office operations all over the country.  I have raised two very successful children, sometimes on my own, while my husband was deployed. I have traveled extensively throughout the world.  Overall a wonderful life. As the spouse of a senior Naval Officer, I play a very important yet technically unofficial role in direct support of our service men and women and their families.  When a military unit is deployed, it falls on the senior spouses to provide leadership, care and guidance for the families that are left behind.  Sometimes this can be a full time job.  I took great pride in this role and was fortunate to be recognized in 2009 as the Atlantic Fleet recipient of the Dorothy H. Flatley Award, given annually to the top military spouse in support of the Naval Aviation community. Later in life, as our service career started to slow down and our children grew older, I found my calling as an artist.  My long and varied life experience has greatly informed my work as a metalsmith.  I began my formal training as an art student in the metals program at Monterey Peninsula Collage in Monterey, CA and have continued as a student, community artist and board member at the Baltimore Jewelry Center in Baltimore, MD.

Artist's Statement

I strive to create versatile, modern and functional jewelry that draws its creative vision from the pairing of contrasting details and color palettes of coastal scenery and man made architecture. My work is both bold and timeless at the same time. Easy to get noticed and easy to wear. I am fascinated by taking ancient metals techniques and incorporating them in modern design. In my work I use granulation (fusing metal spheres to sheet metal), Keum boo (laminating 24K gold to fine silver) and enamel ( fusing glass to metal). All ancient techniques that I use to transform the modern forms and lines of my work .