Gabriel Ofiesh

"I like to find rhythm and balance in each piece I make. Jewelry that has movement as part of the design plus little unexpected, sometimes hidden, details is very pleasing both to me and hopefully to the people who wear it."

One thing that initially inspired him years ago when he started making jewelry were the thousands of little gold fish in Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. At first Marquez expresses the character's artistic nature, but over time the meaning evolves and changes with each person who receives one of the fish. Gabriel Ofiesh has always designed in metal and likes it best when playing around with one piece leads to other ideas—"aha" moments—that lead him off in other directions.

Gabriel Ofiesh fabricates all his jewelry. He often uses tools in an unconventional manner and sometimes makes tools specifically to construct his own work. He uses combinations of precious metal forms, fine gems, and small diamonds to create individual pieces and theme-based collections.

Gabriel Ofiesh is primarily a self-taught jeweler. He started making jewelry on his own while getting a BA in English Literature at the University of Virginia. After graduating in 1973 and failing to find a job teaching English, he started making a living going to craft shows around the state of Virginia. Along the way, he took a couple workshops with noted metalsmith Heikki Seppa and jeweler Ronald Pearson to broaden his design and fabricating skills. Throughout his career he has focused on design continuity and maintaining visual links among his different collections. Having never held a "real job," he has been a studio jeweler for 47 years.