Marilynn
Nicholson
Biography
A native-born Pennsylvanian, Marilynn Nicholson earned a Bachelor’s
Degree from Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia, and later
received a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the School of American Craftsmen
at the Rochester Institute of Technology in upstate New York. Her education
has been supplemented by numerous workshops and courses, including several
at The School of Jewelry Design and Silversmithing at Birmingham Polytechnic
in Birmingham, England. She also studied at the Tyler School of Art
in Pennsylvania and at the Worcester Crafts Center in Massachusetts.
Additionally, Ms. Nicholson has completed courses in Mexico at the Instituto
San Miguel De Allende and in Denmark at the Danske Selskab Danish Design
Seminar.
Marilynn taught Jewelry Making, Weaving, Foundations, and Two- and Three-Dimensional
Design, both at Trenton State College in New Jersey and at Rhode Island
College in Providence. Her teaching continued after she married and
moved to England in 1973. During her 12 years in England, she taught
part-time at Hereford College of Art and at Malvern Hills College, and
also conducted workshops for the Association of British Craftsmen.
Marilynn Nicholson has worked as a self employed jeweler since 1973.
Her career has been highlighted by exhibits in England, Germany, Japan,
Israel, Switzerland. Australia, and the United States. Her extensive
list of one-person shows includes exhibitions at The Victoria and Albert
Museum and Goldsmiths' Hall in London, the Birmingham Museum & Art
Gallery in Birmingham, England, and the Heimat-museum in Idar Oberstein,
Germany. Her jewelry is also included in permanent collections in England
at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Goldsmiths' Hall, the Birmingham
Museum & Art Gallery, and the West Midlands Art Collection at Shagborough
Hall.
While living in Britain, Marilynn also wrote reviews for publication
in association with London’s Goldsmiths' Hall and the Society
of North American Craftsmen’s magazine, Metalsmith. In New Mexico,
she has documented workshops for the New Mexico Metals Association Newsletters
and has been featured in several articles published in Lapidary Journal.
Marilynn’s jewelry was also included in an exhibition and book,
“Treasures of the 20th Century,” published by Goldsmiths’
Hall to celebrate the year 2000.
Since 1986, Marilynn has lived and worked as a self-employed jeweler
and has taught part-time classes and workshops for The University of
New Mexico, The Taos Institute or Art, Santa Fe School of Metalsmithing,
Pueblo 5, The Oo-oon-ah Art Center at Taos Pueblo, The Firehouse Art
Center, and The Armory Art Center.
Marilynn
loves to travel and she enjoyed visiting Japan in 2005 to give a lecture
about her mechanism designs at an international conference and exhibition
at the museum and jewelry school in Itami, Japan
A complete resume is available on request.
  
Artistic
Statement
Marilynn Nicholson fabricates her jewelry in a
collage-like style using nature as an inspiration. Landscape, clouds,
plant forms, the structure of stones, and often the process used in
forming metals, all provide inspiration. In constructing jewelry, she
consciously looks for materials that add surface contour to designs
and enhance the dimensional effect of the piece. Marilynn likes to think
of her jewelry as small, wearable pieces of sculpture and cuts many
of the stones used in her pieces. Agates have particularly striking
patterns and their unique qualities often influence the irregular shape
of her stones. Gemstones have a primeval feeling that reflects the evolution
of the earth in their structure. At times the jewelry follows a theme
in which each piece is connected to the others in an effort to explore
an idea in all its facets. An experimental approach is used in constructing
settings for stones and mechanisms. Total design is the essential consideration,
but most importantly, the jewelry must relate to its owner and be comfortable
to wear.
taosjewelryschool@msn.com
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