What you’ll learn in this episode:   How Anna finds the plants and animals she incorporates into her work, and how she does so sustainably Why even art jewelry must interact with the body to really be considered jewelry What techniques Anna uses to make delicate materials sturdy and wearable Why Anna hopes her jewelry will connect people to the natural world     About Anna Johnson Anna Johnson is a studio artist, craftswoman and educator residing in Asheville, NC. At a very young age she stumbled upon jewelry making and from then on it became not only her creative outlet, but a space of untampered personal expression that guided her through her educational, professional, and personal development. Equally taken by the depths of the natural world, organic elements began to be her main source of inspiration as her language in jewelry developed.   ​Today her work revolves around the question of where and why our culture perceives value by creating jewelry - often used to display worth, lineage, cultural hierarchy, believe affiliations, etc - with raw elements from directly from the natural world, unique and unpretentiously beautiful, in efforts of providing a fresh line of visual communication, a display of acknowledgment, consciousness, and in alliance with our natural world.   Additional Resources: Website Facebook Instagram   Photos Available on TheJewelryjourney.com    Transcript:   Most people who are drawn to Anna Johnson’s jewelry for the first time have no idea it’s made from leaves, animal bones and other items from nature—and that’s exactly what Anna wants. Adapting techniques to highlight natural materials, she hopes that her jewelry will make people reconsider the world around us. She joined the Jewelry Journey Podcast to talk about what attracts her to delicate materials and how she works with them; how she defines jewelry; and why she considers herself an artist first. Read the episode transcript here.    Sharon: Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Jewelry Journey Podcast. This is the second part of a two-part episode. If you haven’t heard part one, please head to TheJewelryJourney.com.    Anna Johnson’s jewelry is very different. It’s made of the bones of small creatures—for example, the mandibles of small reptiles—mixed with gems. You’re so taken with the designs that you don’t even realize what they’re made of. Welcome back.    So, you came in with the idea that the artistry was metalsmithing and jewelry, but metalsmithing brought you to jewelry, and that was all part of the artistry. Am I understanding that correctly?   Anna: Sometimes it’s hard for me to articulate because one, I do feel like my work is a bit vague, so I communicate and it’s easier to read through that. The thing that probably got me to jewelry was this fascination and curiosity with the small. It just happened to be this perfect storm of, “Oh, I want to make small, detailed things that highlight the things I am fascinated with.” At the time when I was going to school, it was like, “O.K., if I want to make small metals, it’s got to be jewelry,” but I also love jewelry. In a weird way it’s a conflict, because I’m not saying that I never liked jewelry—because I do.    I love making jewelry, and it’s so important to make jewelry wearable. If it’s going to be jewelry, then it’s very important for it to make you feel good, make you feel right, make you feel good about yourself, make you feel good when you’re wearing it. In order for it to be jewelry, it does need to, in my opinion, fit into the framework of being wearable. You see big art pieces which are amazing but maybe not so wearable. Sometimes that’s intentional and makes sense with the concept of the piece. Other times, it confuses me with the way I think about jewelry. Why jewelry then? If it’s not going to proudly interact with the body, then is it jewelry? I don’t know.   Sharon: I understand that with a lot of jewelry. I’m sort of lost at where the bones and the plants came into place with