User:WanderAngel/sandbox

Introduction
John Iversen is a German born American metalsmith whose jewelry is mostly inspired by nature. In particular he is known for his botanical inspired jewelry. He is most famous for his realistic castings of leaves, work in enamel, and “Crackle” series.

Early Years and Education
Iversen was born in Hamburg, Germany. At the age of 15, Iversen attended the College for Metal Industries in Dusseldorf where he began to learn the tools of the metalsmithing trade. Then, at the age of 17, when he could not find a jewelry apprenticeship in Germany, he went to Vancouver, Canada and apprenticed there for four years in the early 1970s. After this, he went back to Hanau, Germany to study at the Staatliche Zeichen Academy’s College for Jewelry Design and Manufacturing for three semesters, studying various skills of the trade, such as enameling. Then, in 1978, he moved to New York City, where he worked for several jewelry shops, cleaning castings and designing rings, taking drawing classes at the Arts Students League in New York until he was able to set up shop as an independent jeweler. Currently, he lives in Sag Harbor, New York, where he has lived since 1997 with his wife Carolyn Conrad, a painter.

Career
John Iversen’s work straddles the line between jewelry which is primarily focused on the artistic aspect of jewelry making and jewelry which is more practical for day-to-day wear. From a conceptual standpoint, his work is created with the intention of capturing emotion, and he is most well-known for his work in creating jewelry that is inspired by nature, in which he tries to capture this emotional quality. The cast leaves that he has created during his over 30 year career as an artist are near exact replicas of the real leaves he uses as reference and are just as individually unique. Although this is by coincidence rather than by genuine attempt to entirely and accurately replicate the leaves to the utmost degree, as the artist’s goal is to create the concept of these leaves as gems from nature. These nature-inspired pieces by Iversen rarely, if never, have stones set into them, as the artist finds the stones as a distraction from the beauty of nature which he reflects in these pieces. The other series of work for which he is so well known is his “Crackle” series, which he developed in the late 2000s. His work in this series uses organic, yet geometric shapes which fit together, often in bracelet forms, and have an extensive amount of flexibility due to the hidden mechanisms on the inside of the jewelry pieces.

Achievements
Twelve of his works, including pins, pendants, bracelets, and earrings, are displayed in the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Additionally, other pieces of his work are also shown at the Renwick Gallery, the Metropolitan Museum, and the Museum of Art and Design. His work is also displayed in books on jewelry such as 500 Brooches and magazines such as Metalsmith, American Craft, and Ornament Magazine. Additionally, he is the winner of the Herbert Hofmann Prize for contemporary jewelry, which he won with a silver bracelet titled Cutting Free. He has also displayed his work in several shows and received many awards, including the George Jensen Award at the Smithsonian Craft Show, the Vendura Prize for Jewelry at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show , the Herbert Hoffman prize at the Schmuck Exhibition in Germany, and the Excellence in Crafts Award at the Baltimore ACC crafts show.

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