So what gives with this guy, anyway...
“When I sit down at the bench, I choose to silence all the demons, all the judges, and simply allow myself to risk failure. ”
Norman Torok
Cathartic Studio is the brainchild of one guy, me. Suffice it to say I'm surprised to be writing a bio for my jewelry site that I couldn't have imagined a year ago.
All my life I've worked with my hands, enviously pursuing art in any medium that could absorb my attention. I found it rare, however, that any medium would hold my attention for long. I discovered abstract sculpture more than two decades ago and from that experience I realized working in art was truly transformative as experience.
When I discovered jewelry making much later, initially it felt so natural, I hardly paid attention to the satisfaction the process of working with the tools, the material gave me. It was some time later that the bug would get it's claws in me....
I live in Boston with my lovely wife Cheryl and our cat Twitch. When I'm not at the bench, I could be doing any number of other things that may have grabbed me like: wine tasting, catching up on Newsroom or what ever is the latest cool show, and occasionally working at my day job as a User Experience Designer.
About the Process:
All items are made either to order or can be if requested. The idea isn't to be a store so much as a way to share my interest with others and to provide some manner of satisfying the comments people tell me they hear a lot, "...shut up! i want my own pair..."
Of Interest
Various resources that I've found helpful along my journey.
Jewellry Training Solutions - Online school from Australia's Master Jeweler Peter Keep.
Metalwerx - School for Jewelry and Metal Arts
At the Bench - Online Jewelry Training
Do-It-Yourself Joint Pain Relief - Very helpful physical therapy tips