Lindsay Walker makes sustainable heirloom jewelry

I spoke to Lindsay Walker of Walker Jewelry about her journey becoming a jewelry designer, how she imbues her handmade business with her personal values and what it means to be part of a creative community. We first met almost a decade ago, when she participated in Fashion Happening Nashville, an event started by Hunter Claire Rogers and myself to spotlight local fashion design in an artistic setting. Since then, she’s gone full-time in her business making original designs, custom pieces, and teaching workshops.

Anna: What do you do?

Lindsay: I design and make jewelry by hand using old techniques, like classic metal smithing. I also offer custom jewelry services, especially repurposing people's metals and gemstones. That's a big part of my effort to be a sustainable jewelry company. It also adds sentimental value and recycles memory into a new piece. And I teach classes. I offer a variety of classes for beginners wanting to try out jewelry making, anything from hosting people visiting Nashville, to classes for couples making their wedding bands.

How did you first get into jewelry making?

I made beaded jewelry when I was a kid and would sell it, and always was doing art. Then I got a job when I was 23, metalworking, making custom light fixtures for the Urban Electric Company in Charleston. That was more of a manufacturing job, but it taught me how to work efficiently, how to solder metal, how to basically make an entire light fixture from sheet metal. So that introduced me to metalworking and I pretty much instantly fell in love. I was like, “I know this is what I want to do.” But I just didn't really know how, and I knew I wanted to learn how to design because it seemed like an important thing. I knew I wanted to start a business, and I knew I wanted to learn how to design objects. Then I moved to Denmark after doing that job for three years. I moved there for a separate job and applied for a jewelry design program. It was an MFA for goldsmiths. I applied and got in and that was my first introduction to the techniques of jewelry making. I went to the goldsmith school for three months before I started the design program and learned the basics of silver soldering, etc. Sheet metal fabrication and jewelry are very different actually. So I had to learn jewelry making techniques. The program was three years and it was mostly conceptual art. It was very process oriented. I also got to do a semester of glassblowing, which I really liked.  It was very freeing artistically. I learned the design method that they appreciate over there. It’s been helpful to apply to custom work for people and my own designs.

How does the Denmark design method differ from the American?

Their aesthetic is different because it's very much form follows function. The work I did was very expressive, very textural. I knew that was different. It was pointed out to me many times how my style was very different. Their design process is very much about the process of seeing as many models as possible. They do evidence backed design. It's different from our subconscious talking to us and we just kind of make something, which I think is nice too. The method I learned can take a month to get to a final design. For example, the process of modeling, sketching, thinking, researching and then, maybe you have a final product. I haven't done a class here so that's all I know.

Do you still follow that when you make jewelry?

I wish I had the time to just be in that happy world of play and experimenting with materials. It's hard to take that much time when I'm designing. I don’t follow it fully, but I do try to use references in my designs. Right now it's mostly traveling. I'm doing a lot of out west trips and mountaineering. I'll take my inspiration from what I experienced in solace, and translate it into pieces that I make when I'm working on my own jewelry. Custom jewelry is a little bit different because it involves the customer in the process and hearing what they want and where their story wants to go and then making models and checking in and going back and forth, but I still try to provide options for people in that way. So my work is process oriented but it's not as researched. I do miss getting to spend months of just researching a topic and diving in really deep.

How did you get into teaching jewelry workshops?

I thought it would be fun to offer a wedding ring workshop because, out of the whole wedding experience, the ring is the thing that you wear every day after your wedding, and it felt like people were wanting to celebrate more meaning with that ring. 

I always like that jewelry has so much meaning attached to it and sentimentality and feeling. I think the more involved you are with an object, the more meaning it creates. I'm not making the rings and they're watching, it's a long day of teaching them, first how to make the rings in silver, and then by the time they work in gold, they're confident and empowered. It’s important to be able to teach people how jewelry is made because they look at it differently and look at the world of craft differently. We work with our hands and are creative and don't really think about it anymore. But most people don’t understand what’s involved.

Any time we can disconnect from our phones and connect with making, and the mind-body connection of making an object, it can be therapeutic. I've heard that a lot from people.

What’s been your biggest learning curve for the business side of things?

The biggest thing is learning that it's possible, and to believe in oneself. I definitely took my time. I didn't take any loans or investments. I bootstrapped for a long time and then just knew I had to take a risk at a certain point and go full time. There were years of struggle. What I learned is you have to have good intentions and work really hard. And then results will follow. I have those blinders, just focus. Doing programs like Periscope (artist entrepreneur training) really helped to be able to define what I wanted to do. It can be hard to have that perspective when you're in it 100% all the time. So having an outside perspective to say like, “this is good that you're doing this and you should keep doing that.” It's good to have that affirmation as well. Because it can be really lonely.  Having community can definitely help.

You have to figure out your values and how you want to communicate your values in your business. That's the most important thing. I wrote my business plan while I was still in school and did a program on sustainability, business and design. I was inspired by everything we were doing and learning and so I wrote my business plan. Then I just tucked it away. When I went full time and got into remaking people's heirlooms and teaching, I looked back at my business plan and realized I had started to do what I originally wrote out. I didn't follow it, but I just naturally went that way. Because those were my values. I don't think it's fulfilling to just follow trends or aesthetics or money. Values are going to keep you going when it’s really tough.

Why is sustainability important to you and how does that impact your work?

When I was in school, we looked at the triple bottom line and talked about that a lot. It's not just about profit, which is the bottom line, it's about people, planet, and profit. That was my introduction to business, so I was thinking about that when I started my business. I don't mass produce things, everything is small batch. It's easy to stay pretty sustainable if you have a small jewelry company, because the metals can always be reused. They always have value. I don't plate my jewelry with gold because to me that's not sustainable because gold is a precious material and if it wears off, then it's gone forever. So that's one practical way that I've always stayed true to that value. Also, taking the time (because it does take a lot of time) to reuse people's gold. It has to be melted down and cleaned, then milled out by hand or cast. At that point, you're not necessarily making as much money but it's okay. It’s a labor of love. I like getting in touch with the process in that way. I like the technical aspect of it. I try to reduce waste as much as I can.

Do you have any advice for someone who wants to be a jewelry maker?

There's definitely a need for bench jewelers in our country. Go to a trade school. Work for someone and learn from them. Don't be afraid to ask for help. There's so many good programs out there to help you along the way. I've been able to take advantage of programs with Tennessee Craft or the Arts and Business Council. There's a lot of resources in Nashville specifically that can help people. Also, figure out what your values are.

Do you see yourself as an artist? 

Yeah, absolutely. That's a funny question because it took me a really long time to say it out loud. I just feel like it's so much a part of me, like who I am as a person, how I react to the world and to art that yes, I am an artist. I can't deny it. When people ask me what I am I just say jeweler, because that's easy. I am a designer and I am also a maker. Jeweler is an easy umbrella for describing everything.

Thanks for talking to me today

Thank you. It's fun, because you and Hunter Claire were the first people I knew about in Nashville supporting designers and artists with what you were doing. It’s really special. It makes me feel a part of a community. That's why I like living here so much. That feeling of being a part of something. 

What I’ve realized that’s really special about having a business like this is the community. I've made people's engagement rings and they've come back and made their own wedding rings, and then I'm making anniversary presents and push presents. What I do matters, you know, I think I'm a very self critical person. So it can be really hard to be proud of your work and yourself. So I try to keep that in mind, “Just keep going, you're making a difference.”

Check out Lindsey’s jewelry or sign up for a class at walkerjewelry.com and follow her on instagram @walkerjewelry