Monika's relationship with jewelry is a love affair in three parts:

My love affair with jewelry started with making: Using my hands and fabricating… manipulating metal and soldering it together… working with a select assortment of traditional tools… There’s a creativity required for both dreaming up unique designs and problem solving to accomplish them, such satisfaction in making a well crafted object. The zen of the studio – to be completely absorbed in a task with my hands and head busy – is restorative.

The love affair continues with materials: Luscious 18k yellow gold and how dreamy it is to work with, incredible and unusual gemstones – picturesque, glowing, or sparkling – each ingrained with a “feeling” or telling a little story. And half the fun is seeking them out, being “on the hunt” to find precious treasures that need a home, a perfectly fit setting.

The third stage of the love affair is the finished piece, the created object venturing out into the world to be treasured and adored. There’s something powerful about a precious and beautiful small object that can fit in the palm of the hand and be used to adorn oneself. The meaning that it can take on – to celebrate or commemorate a person or time in life, to bear joy or sorrow… or both. Worn on the body, kept close to the heart, carried at all times – it’s intimate and personal. It is art for the body.