Meet the Artist: Pam Allen

Interview with Jeweler Pam Allen

Inspired Journeys at the Prairie Art Alliance Gallery is on view until Thursday October 9th. 

Where did the name Park Avenue Designs come from?

We used to live on Park Avenue. The name was classy. We thought we would live there forever, and we did for about 6 years (we lived there for 23 years) after I started the business, then we moved and it was just too much trouble to change it—plus Wydown Avenue Designs doesn’t have much of a ring to it. LOL

Your pieces combine a variety of textures into a single piece.  Why are you drawn to texture?

Plain metal for the most part is boring!  Layering texture makes a piece more interesting, gives it depth, and defines it.

Design and overall shape seems to play a key role in your finished pieces.  What inspires the design; the process, the metal, the stone, or an image in your head?

It all depends. Anything may inspire the design: maybe I have a piece left over, or I have a piece that doesn’t sell, so I take it apart and call it a do over; maybe I see something in a magazine, or another artists work, that makes me what to take off on the design with something of my own.  Almost anything and everything can inspire me or give me an idea that I can turn into a piece of jewelry.  For example, the base circle on the featured Sterling Silver Charoite Necklace was part of another piece that I made early on. It didn’t sell, so I took it apart, started playing  with a more fluid design around that piece of Charoite, which I love, and voila. 

The process /design thingy, is really chicken and egg.  The design may be conducive to “cold connections” or may require soldering.  If I want to combine metals again that may determine the process.  Or I may decide that today I want to do some Broom Casting—then the process is going to determine the design. I have recently gotten into “Torch Enameling”, a technique that really requires cold connections post enameling.  I have always said I have artistic ADD. I jump from one thing to another, and it’s always my favorite when I’m doing it!

Your pieces seem to seamlessly incorporate stones.  Do you design around the stone or create the piece and choose the stone and placement as you work?

In the past I have added stones to designs. Lately I have been buying unique stones and designing around them.

Do you have a favorite stone?

I love Larimar, the clear blue stone, and Charoite, the marbled purple stone.  I am fond of many others and I am drawn to the unique, be it cut or color. There is an annual “rock” show at the fair grounds and one particular booth that I visit has stones that he personally collects and cuts; I’m like a kid in a candy store.

What is next for you as an artist?

I have no idea.  I am really happy with “what is.” At this stage, I really don’t think about what is next. Whatever strikes my fancy, or grabs my attention, that’s what’s next.  I just keep learning, having fun, and creating art that I can share.  As customer once said, “When I saw that piece it made my heart sing.”

Follow our blog for interviews from the other artists featured in "Inspired Journeys" on display at the Prairie Art Alliance Gallery until October 9th.