Featured Artist: Kathy Patton

Kathy Patton, who sells under the name smashing, lives in an undisclosed location (i.e., “hideout”) in the western suburbs of Cleveland. Her striking designs are a perennial favorite among Etsy Treasury makers and people with discriminating taste. She is one of the leaders of Cleveland Handmade.

What is your first memory of your craft? Did someone teach you, or did you learn on your own?
My first memory of metalwork is from college. Our first project was making a simple band ring out of copper. I remember being ridiculously excited thinking that if I could make a ring, I could probably figure out how to make anything.

My first memory of making jewelry (maybe accessories would be a better word?) involved brightly colored scraps of fabric, woven and tied around my ankle. My parents really loved that look. No, they didn’t. I was just kidding. They said I looked like a hobo, but I thought I looked fabulous and wore the thing all summer. Oh! I should mention that was when I was eight years old, not last week or anything.

What is it that draws you to silver and glass?
Silver is such a beautiful metal. It shines, it glows, it can be gloomy or mirror-bright. I love it. And I love glass, too! You can find or make glass in every color and, if you take care of it, it will last forever.

How would you describe the style of your work? Does it reflect your personal style?
My work is simple, in plain shapes, without a lot of decoration. I try to balance bright colors and sugary pastels with gray and darker gray. My home and my clothes are that way, too. So, they do carry over into each other. (But sometimes [shh! don't tell!] I daydream about living in a victorian home, with ornate everything, busy wallpaper and lots of fabric, fringe and ribbons, and i would wear one of those poofy-sleeved blouses and a couple of lockets . . .)

What are your inspirations? How are they expressed in your work?
Sometimes, I see colors next to each other that are together by accident (usually somewhere glamorous like a laundry pile or dishes in the sink) and then I’ll try to use them in jewelry. A little pomegranate-blueberry juice left in the bottom of a glass was the inspiration for the colors in this piece. And this Treasury. And an outfit. Yay for dishes!

Do you have an all-time favorite creation? What about it makes it your favorite?
My favorite is a bracelet. It was blue and green. It lives with a nice lady in North Carolina now. It is my favorite because the colors were just right and the shapes were pleasingly wonky. It’s been six months since it left. Sigh. Wink.

When did you realize that this was more than a hobby?
Making jewelry was never really a hobby. I knew I wanted to make things and sell them. I went to school for art hoping to someday do something creative, but knowing it might not be the way I would make a living. That was long before the internet and digital cameras were so accesible and affordable. Now, it seems like a less daunting task for an artist of any kind to get their work seen. That is really exciting.

Etsy has given me the opportunity to make that hope for a creative career into something that can grow and change as I need it to and I’m grateful for that.

Describe your workspace.
My workspace has slowly commandeered most of our downstairs. There are a couple of workspaces: one for enameling, one for soldering/brazing, a worktable for measuring and sawing/piercing, and another area for wrapping and packing orders. My family doesn’t know this, but I plan to take over the rest of the house, too. The living room will be a gallery/showroom, the bedrooms will be offices and customer lounges. It’s going to be great. I don’t know where we will live, but, oh well.

What is your favorite task related to your work? Your least favorite?
My favorite task is working with torches. No! Don’t make that oh-she-is-such-a-pyromaniac face. It’s not the fire I like, it is the changes it can make in the metal and glass. I promise.

My least favorite is making jump rings or links. I stubbornly refuse to buy them, but I dread making them. The only time I’ve really hurt myself was when I was sawing wire. now I’m superstitious. Or saw-shy, maybe.

Do you have artistic talents in other areas?
Yes. but I cannot sew. Or sing or dance. (I don’t stop trying though, no matter how horrified my friends and family look.)

Tell us something about you that we might be surprised to hear.
There is nothing surprising about me.

Where can we find your work?
My Etsy shop: smashing.etsy.com
Renegade Handmade in Chicago
The Paper Sparrow in Troy, New York
The Beehive Co-op in Cincinnati