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 all the more special to me.
In 2014 I was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, severely impacting my ability to use my right arm and hand (which is what I use to make art – so, you know, absolutely terrifying!) and had to undergo multiple surgeries where a couple of ribs and muscles were removed (and some other stuff) and had a very long healing process. In the midst of it all, I went through a divorce, relocated to Hawaii and started a new shift in direction for my career. Luckily, I had a complete recovery but it took quite a long time. I started to make things again as I healed, slowly exploring mediums I had touched in the past; ceramics, drawing, then painting.
A few years ago, I met a life-long sculptor who spoke to me like a peer, and it got me thinking about pulling my inner artist out of the shadows. It set me on a course to start making art for myself for once in my life. His daughter was the one who suggested metalsmithing to me; I had always wanted to work with metal and wasn’t sure where to start. Jewelry became my entry into that 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, in an unrelated turn of events I sustained a tear in my hip socket and was unable to sit for more than 5 minutes, keeping me from sitting at the jewelry bench. During this time, it was determined I had hip dysplasia, which prevented them from simply fixing the tear (otherwise it would just tear again). My only options were to wait in pain for 10 years until I was old enough for a hip replacement or undergo a Periacetabular Osteotomy (PAO) in which they break your pelvis in three places, reposition the hip socket to cover the joint and fix the dysplasia, then screw it into place. Because the pelvis is a weight bearing bone, its not like healing a broken arm; it takes months and months of healing and physical therapy. One of my breaks still isn't healed all the way almost a year later. My surgery was at the beginning of this year and I completed my PT just recently after 8 months. The first thing I did when I was able was set up my easel and bench and get to creating again.
My work began again with this feeling of soaring and transformation engrained in my being. Relegated to my bed and having to use a walker to get around for months on end really made me exercise my imagination, and being the visual person I am I would get carried away envisioning how it would feel when I could walk and sit and run again…it would be like flying, metamorphosizing into a new me. My paintings started to unfold in that theme and soon, the jewelry pieces I was making expressed these same concepts, hence the beginning of my new chapter here with my shop.
This whole experience the past 7 years 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.