Holly R. Dobkin

elcome to my website! Jewelry has been a fascination of mine for as long as I can remember. All the forms these shiny and sparkling little works of art may take never cease to amaze me. The properties of metal and the colors of the stones make the possibilities endless. My creative influences run the gamut from the natural to the architectural. It is always an exciting challenge to start with an idea and sketches and then move to the next step --- figuring out how to cast or fabricate the design from the raw materials. After working through the process, it is incredibly rewarding to hold the finished piece.

I work primarily in fine and sterling silver and Argentium silver with occasional touches of gold as well as precious and semi precious stones and fresh water pearls. I cast and fabricate but find that they use vastly different parts of my brain and that I can’t always do both at the same time. I may spend a week or two working in wax and casting and then months fabricating. Often pieces I’ve cast find their way into fabricated work much later. I have also discovered the joys and challenges of working with Precious Metal Clay. There are no limits to the exciting possibilities it offers in combination with the other processes.

Many times I find that a design will raise technical issues requiring me to learn and delve into a process that I have never tried before...and that may lead to another challenge, then another, etc. The joy of working with beautiful materials and the journey through the many technical challenges is what keeps me going back to my sketch book and bench.