TAOS MAGAZINE November/December 2014 13

The Magpie’s Treasure

AAt the tender age of twelve, Jen Weddle began making jewelry out of solder wire and found objects, selling her humble creations to family members, friends and a few stores at

the Town & Country Mall in her hometown of Houston, Texas. She would later attend Texas Tech University, where she began her studies in Studio Art and Apparel Design but soon switched to Metalsmithing.

Weddle’s early conceptual work was focused on the unusual habits of magpies and the odd items to which they are attracted; more specifically, their curious fascination with shiny objects and their incorporation of found objects in the creation of their homes.

“I feel like a magpie,” Weddle says. “I find the way in which they go about building their nests to be very intriguing. They are really intelligent

birds, curious but shy and secretive. In the presence of danger they’ve been known to mimic other birds, and can even be taught to repeat some hu-man words.”

Birdlike, shy, and somewhat secretive herself, Weddle’s slight frame and wide set eyes belie the drive and ambition so apparent once she starts to discuss her work. Her mystical bent aside, this is a woman determined to make a success out of her craft.

Following her time at Texas Tech, Weddle, and her best friend Jamie Garrison, moved to Austin, Texas, then to San Marcos while con-

tinuing to perfect her craftsmanship and build up an inventory of her uniquely imagined jewelry. Eventually she returned to Houston where she rented a combina-

tion studio space and storefront. Here she was able to showcase her jewelry, and in the process establish an all-important client base.

By Lynne Robinson

Jen Weddle crafts wonderous jewelry out of found objects and mystical imagination.

Taoseña mixed media

The Magpie’s Treasure

TAOS MAGAZINE November/December 201414

An introduction to Zlatko Petrovic, widower of jeweler Lita Petrovic, became a pivotal point in her continued growth and devel-opment as an artist. Following a visit to Lita’s former studio, Weddle was able to acquire all of the artist’s tools and equipment, plus a large quantity of rare stones. The collection consisted mostly of tur-quoise the late jeweler had accumulated over many years.

“I keep in touch with Zlatko,” Weddle says, “and am slowly purchasing the pieces remaining in Lita’s vast collection. Although I never met Lita, I feel connected to her. She has changed my life, her work and spirit lives on in the jewelry I create.”

Weddle explains that as a result of acquiring Petrovic’s tools and stones, she became fully committed to learning the skills re-quired in the art of lapidary. “I searched online and found a lapidary school in Taos,” she explains, which is how she ultimately wound up making Taos her home.

“My dad happened to have friends staying in Ruidoso at the time, so I booked the weeklong course and he dropped me off in Taos and drove on to meet his friends. I spent the week studying and learning lapidary techniques with Marilynn Nicholson, and felt embraced by the people I met and the place itself. Before the week was over, Taos was home.” Among the people she met was accomplished silversmith Keith Evans who, along with Nicholson, she now considers a friend and mentor.

During her stay, Weddle also became acquainted with David Elliot who managed Letherwerks, a Taos store owned by actor Kris-tian Moore. Elliot showed her around town and unexpectedly asked if she would be interested in creating belt buckles for their shop.

“The end of that week came too fast,” Weddle recalls. “The thought of leaving Taos literally made me ill! My dad jokes that he had to force me to get in the truck when he came to pick me up.” And it seems that was not, in fact, a joke—as they drove out of town Weddle was making plans to return. “I spent the entire drive back to Texas on my phone contacting real estate agents for houses to rent. When I got home I called up Jamie to see if she’d come with and share a place with me.”

Within three months the two friends, along with Weddle’s dog, had relocated to the Land of Enchantment. A few weeks after their arrival Garrison found a job at Michael McCormick and Sons Gallery as curator, while Weddle became busy producing belt buck-les for Letherwerks.

“They say the mountain embraces you if you are supposed to be here,” Weddle relates, “but I believe it was the people who embraced us.”

Garrison eventually showed Weddle’s work to Michael McCor-mick. McCormick was so impressed that this past July he included Weddle’s jewelry as part of an exhibition featuring the extraordinary oil pastel paintings of renowned artist Bill Baker. It proved to be an auspicious pairing. Weddle’s jewelry pieces, displayed in the gallery’s front showroom, were a perfect complement to Baker’s brilliant canvases depicting disappearing indigenous tribes.

McCormick continued to show Weddle’s work following the conclusion of the Baker exhibition. And during Indian Market Week in August, her jewelry attracted as much attention as the works of longstanding gallery artists Malcolm Furlow and Tim Nevaquaya. Acknowledging the impression Weddle’s jewelry had made on the gallery’s clients, McCormick proceeded to make her a permanent member of his considerable stable of artists.

Jen Weddle in Thailand while collecting amulets and blue sapphires

Magpie necklace (detail) ]sterling silver, parral agate and agate rondelles

TAOS MAGAZINE November/December 2014 15

Weddle’s jewelry is almost talismanic and tribal itself. Her flawlessly contrived strands of twisted coral and turquoise bring to mind jewelry I saw growing up in Africa—amulets made for pro-tection and healing hung with mysterious charms and bits of juju. There is also an element of American Indian craftsmanship to her work, although her thunderbirds are much more representative of Horus, the Egyptian Hawk God. The cultural timelines blur, and all becomes one in origin and essence.

However, Weddle’s true gift is her ability to draw on universal, archetypal imagery in the creation of her jewelry in a manner that resonates and has a deeper meaning aside from pure adornment. “My work is a reflection of many different things,” she says. “It has evolved over the years, beginning with the magpies, but it doesn’t end there. Birds continue to fascinate me, as do different cultures, travel and my immediate surroundings. I prefer using objects which have history, and incorporating them into new pieces of wearable art; all this inspires me and allows me to create from an authentic perspective.”

This is an artist drawn to life’s mysteries. Her work (and her words) is peppered with references to both mystics and mythology. She looks to ancient symbology to find and express meaning. From the Eye of Horus to the Hand of Fatima, a slightly superstitious and shamanic inclination weaves itself through the twisted strands and silver birds like a magical thread.

Fatima mixed media

Thunderbird cuff sterling silver, American turquoise nuggets

TAOS MAGAZINE November/December 201416

Looking at these extraordinary pieces, it is easy to imagine how an individual would actually feel invincible when wearing one of them. These works both look and feel imbued with the energies Weddle draws upon to create them.

Weddle continues a long tradition of jewelry-making in Taos, but her work extends beyond simple adornment; these pieces stand on their own as works of art, treasures from the ‘magpie’s nest’ that will only increase in beauty and value with the patina brought on by time.

An exhibition of Jen Weddle’s jewelry opens at Michael McCormick and Sons Gallery, 106 Paseo del Pueblo Norte, January 17, 2015, with a reception from 4 to 8pm.

575.758.1372 or 800.279.0879. mccormickgallery.com.

Guatemalan Worry People necklace mixed media

Egyptian falcon necklace (detail) sterling silver, Kingman turquoise and Jasper carved scarabs