Near the heart of downtown Rhinelander lives longtime jewelry maker Betty J Christian. Christian has been making jewelry for 20 years, working with wire and beads to create beautiful designs and custom pieces that she sells on her website and at art fairs.
Christian has become very proficient in the art of jewelry making, but she originally got her start working for an orthodontist in Alaska, bending wires for braces instead of bracelets. Working with the wire came naturally for her and she became interested in wire jewelry when she came across a website run by a jewelry maker and fell in love with the artistry of the pieces on the website.
“I contacted the person that created it, and she said, oh, you know, because I wanted to know, how can I learn how to do this? Are there any books, tools, where do you get supplies? She said, Well, you can't learn this on your own. You have to come out to California for a class and I couldn't do that. I had three small children at home, so I found my own books and learned on my own.” said Christian.
Since she first started working with wire in the orthodontic field, she has continued to specialize in wire work when it comes to creating her jewelry, starting with copper wire and then moving on to other metals
“It wasn't very long and then I started using silver and then a few years after that, I started using gold-filled. I like to play with the stones and see how the gemstones and beads and pearls, how they combine with the wire work. It's a lot of fun.” said Christian.
Though wire is a vital part of the jewelry Christian makes, she tends to get her inspiration for each piece from the stones and beads she uses. She gets these beads from many different sellers in many different countries and she makes her designs by determining what ones correlate for each piece.
“Probably the stones. Sometimes I'll just get out my little containers of stones and just look at them and see what looks good together.” said Christian.
Christian, makes many different types of jewelry such as earrings, necklaces, custom pieces, and more, but her favorite type of jewelry to make is her linked bracelets.
“It's just, they're more free flowing and I don't know. Sometimes when I get finished with a piece, I'll just hold it in my hand and just kind of just feel the energy of it, and I'll even wear it for a while just to get a feel for it. So I kind of test them out first.” said Christian.
Christian believes that jewelry making as an artform gives people the unique opportunity to wear art and show it off to others in a way that isn’t possible for some other art mediums.
“You know, people that like art, it's their chance to wear it is, you know, the opportunity to wear jewelry and you know, a lot of times you have a necklace or earrings on, you can't always see it. Other people can see it, but that's one nice thing to have a bracelet, because then you can look at it more often and sometimes, you know, someone will comment, oh, I like your earrings. I'm like, I have to feel them. Like, oh, what am I wearing today? Oh, yeah, those. So I think art jewelry is just part of the broad spectrum of art that is available to us” said Christian.
Christian believes that art, like many other things in life, is important to people because of the way it makes them feel.
“I mean, that's why we do most everything we do. You know, we go out for a nature walk because it feels good. We get a pet because it feels good to have a pet and just looking at art and having it, you know, around you, surrounding your environment, it makes you feel good.” said Christian.
Betty J Christian is a talented artist and though her start may have been a little unconventional, she has created many beautiful jewelry pieces and continues to make more using her creativity and passion for art. Christian has many lovely jewelry pieces up for sale on her website and she also takes custom orders. So, to see some of her designs and find out what she has to offer, you can check her out at bjchristian.com.
