About me

Hi everyone! I'm Crystal, a metalsmith and artist creating from a small studio in Honolulu. I’m a self-taught metalsmith, and the runner of all aspects of Crystal Rose Design. While I have been creating all my life in various ways and mediums much of that time was spent making things for other people. After finishing my art degree in California, I worked for a movie studio for about a decade designing and marketing their movie premieres, then freelance design for a while, and now I do Marketing as my bread and butter. My passion and heart though, is in making art on my terms and metalsmithing.

I’ve had to overcome a lot of challenges to get to this place, but because of those obstacles it has made this work even more special to me.

A few years ago, I met the renowned artist and sculptor Satoru Abe. During my visits with him, he spoke to me like a peer, and after a long time of burying my inner artist, it got me thinking about pulling my creativity out of the shadows. I cut my first piece of metal at his bench that he brought to his lifetime retrospective show in Honolulu, and it set me on a course to start making art for myself for once in my life. His daughter was the one who suggested jewelry making to me as her dad had done before; I had always wanted to work with metal and wasn’t sure where to start and the small scale made it more accessible. This became my entry into the metalsmithing world, and I absolutely fell in love with the process.

In the midst of my deep dive into books, youtube and practice to develop my metalsmithing abilities, I underwent major surgeries to correct severe hip dysplasia and subsequently was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos syndrome (EDS), as well as Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS) and Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). My health challenges made me pause my metalwork, and so I pivoted to oil painting for a time; after several years and a lot of work I resumed with both inspiring each other, and so my fine art works and collections tend to dovetail into similar themes.

This whole experience has really made me value the ability to create things and express myself in the way that I want to. The care I put into my work is a reflection of that value and I hope you enjoy these creations and find mementos that resonate with you.

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Studio photo credit: John Hook