ASHLAND — Natural gems, each with its unique look, inspires the work on Amy Litteral, owner of Moxie Jewelry Designs which is headquartered at the Pendleton Art Center.

In addition to earrings, necklaces and bracelets, the Ironton native’s studio sells satin poppy flower hair pins, glass magnets and other accessories.

It’s the gems and silver that inspire her as an artist.

“My philosophy is the show off the gemstone and try to find different ways to highlight it,” the featured artist for February at the Pendleton said. “My jewelry has a modern edge and many of the designs are asymetrical.”

Although she has had no formal training as a jewelry designer, Litteral is a doctor of chiropractic and practiced for years in Asheville, N.C., before deciding to take time off to pursue her love of jewelry making. She said she moved back to the area to be closer to her parents, who still live in Ironton.

Litteral said her mother is a crafter so she was exposed to painting, weaving and woodworking through her. She said she took every art class she could as a child and at 10 received a scholarship for pottery to the Huntington Museum of Art. Her elective classes during college were in art, but she gained an interest in jewelry when she took time off to recover from surgery.

“I was in Galveston, Texas, and went into a bead store,” she said. “I fell in love with it.”

While living in Asheville, Litteral said she sold her jewelry in the outdoor artists market, noting the status Asheville has as a strong arts community.

“It went from being full of run-down buildings to being a well-supported arts district,” she said of the town.

She said she enjoyed the beautiful stones (labradorite, a gray but iridescent stone, is her favorite) but also the process of making jewelry.

“I find it to be therapeutic for me,” she said. “It’s a moving meditation.”

She said she even gets commission work, doing pieces for weddings, and predicts pearls will be a popular trend this year.

“I mix them with crystal,” she said. “It really does dress up a piece.”

Litteral, who joined the Pendleton in September 2011, has teamed with fellow Pendleton artist Angy Hall to teach a six-week children’s craft class, which has covered making soap, banners, button-embellished accessories and other decorative items. The final class of this session will be Feb. 9 and the theme is “Magical Masks.”

She said they will offer a Jewelry 101 for adults which will cover tools of jewelry making, gemstones, finding materials, and techniques for making earrings, bracelets and necklaces.

Litteral said she also has plans to travel, selling her wares at festivals and shows this year.

Being at the Pendleton has been a boon to her business.

“I’ve been very successful since my first First Friday,” she said. “I’ve done very well and continue to do very well. The other artists said nobody ever makes any money on their first First Friday, but I did.”

She said her association with other artists has been a positive, too.

“It’s given me such a good network,” Litteral said. “The artists here are amazing. They have taken me and welcomed me and given me a foothold to work from.”

Also on First Friday:

‰The Upstairs Gallery will feature to art and poetry of Linda Helgason.

‰The 1414 Gallery will open the exhibit “Why Do You Do What You Do?’ by art students of Jennier Spade at Paul G. Blazer High School.



LEE WARD can be reached at lward@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2661.