DEANNA POELSMA

Helping a blind classmate choose glaze colors opened Deanna Poelsma’s eyes to the impact of art. The high school moment set her on a path to become an accomplished jewelry artist.

While many ceramicists dabble in jewelry-making as a sideline to their larger pieces, this Indianapolis designer focuses solely on wearable art that is affordable and appealing. Her stylized pieces blend the geometric patterns of Art Deco with the graceful curves of Art Nouveau botanicals.

At the Columbus (Ohio) College of Art and Design, where she earned a BFA in 2012, Deanna worked in precious metals. She learned soldering, casting and stone setting, but clay seemed to repeatedly call to her.

“I don’t know what it is about clay, but it always seems to calm my mind,” says the founder of Glazed & Confused Creations. Working with it “helps me recharge when my mental or social battery is low.”

Creating clay jewelry gives her the opportunity to continue doing the aspects of metalsmithing that she loves – design and adornment – while still being able to get her hands dirty in the rich earthiness of clay.

Her lightweight earrings and pendants are slab rolled, carved and decorated, all by hand, to create one-of-a-kind designs that appeal to all ages. Each piece requires three firings, and each is glazed on every side. The ocean’s aquas, teals, blues and greens – colors she saw growing up in Florida – heavily influence Deanna’s color palette.

She describes her jewelry as “craft in nature,” adding that it “encompasses my love of many wildly different things, including Art Deco, the Caribbean, clay, jewelry and opulence, and then wraps them all up neatly into one small, artistic creation that can be worn and enjoyed by many outside the gallery wall.”