Moose Spotlight: Shifting Gears to Metalsmithing

The talented jewelry artist behind the Instagram account @mountainrayshandamde is Brooke Shanelle, a Richmond, Virginia-based artist who has been making jewelry for five years now and has been metalsmithing for two and a half years.

@mountainrayshandmade on Instagram

Brooke shared with us that she has always loved making things with her hands, especially practical objects. In college, she studied ceramics and wanted to pursue a career in that field. However, once she settled down in Richmond, VA she quickly realized how over-saturated the market was for ceramics. Brooke decided to shift her medium and took an intro to jewelry making class at her local art center. Since then, she never looked back! Finding her own style, she also realized how turquoise jewelry is something that was missing in Virginia.

Being in the jewelry industry, the most challenging part of being a metalsmith for Brooke is the business side. She admits she has no problem with creating and making anything with her own hands, but she shared that the nit and gritty of the business side is always the hardest part.

For Brooke, nature inspires her daily as she works mostly with turquoise. Turquoise is created by a chemical reaction when water with minerals seep into rocks and form over thousands of years. She told us the fact she gets to create one-of-a-kind jewelry that can be passed down to future generations who will outlive her, fully inspires her to create with the Earth’s treasures.

Brooke works with turquoise because she finds that there are so many different mines with different colors, variations, grades, and price points. This leaves her and her customers a wide range of diversity to choose from.

Indeed, there’s so much to choose from depending on your style!

Here are a few of her amazing designs:

by @mountainrayshandmade on Instagram

“Don’t give up. Practice really does make perfect,” this is what Brooke emphasized on when we asked her for one tip she wants to share with her fellow creators. We are nodding our heads to this! When you really put your heart into it, it would be so rewarding to finally get it right.

Follow her work on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mountainrayshandmade/

Explore her website: https://mountainrayshandmade.com/

What do you like most about working with Turquoise Moose?

“Consistency! I can always count on the quality of every stone, every time I order.”

- Brooke Shanelle