Jill Hurant alloys her own 24k gold; in layman’s terms, adding a percentage of silver and copper to make the final substance harder and more receptive to the ancient Etruscan technique of granulation- fusing small gold granules to a surface rather than soldering them on. (You can see wonderful examples of this process at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.) If you’d told her a mere ten years ago she’d become an artisan in the classical tradition, especially crafting jewelry, she’d have looked at you sideways.
Raised in Cleveland by a mother who worked in enamel and leather, Jill “fooled around” with the latter helping to make marketable accessories. She had no aspirations to become a professional designer. Interested in fashion and good with her hands, she channeled her sewing skills to her own clothes. It seemed logical and practical to major in merchandising. Jill was promised a job at the May Company and enrolled in a one year associates degree program at F.I.T. “Everybody’s got plans, until they get hit.” Mike Tyson. She fell in love, got married in New York, and stayed.
Jobs at a children’s wear showroom, and as an assistant buyer in budget women’s clothing followed. “Polyester pull-on pants,” Jill remembers with a sigh. In the eighties, she started a company making bathing suit cover-ups out of hand-painted, later appliquéd, oversized men’s t-shirts. It evolved to include dresses and shorts sets. Though business was brisk, manufacturing issues ensued. The operation closed.
Jill and her husband moved to New Jersey parenting two children. “I was a full time mommy.” A friend taking classes at the Jewelry Arts Institute in Manhattan, suggested Jill might find jewelry making an outlet to express her now untapped creativity. Her response: “It’s not my thing. I like to look at it. I don’t care about owning it or wearing it.” (One ring, one discreet pendant and very small, irregular studs are her only daily accessories.) Still, the Greek and Roman influence she observed in her friend’s work and “the color” (literally) of 22k gold, stayed with her.
A year later, “I decided to bite the bullet and take a class.” The first thing Jill fashioned was an enamel- the medium in which her mother most often worked and which remained, during her childhood, squarely lodged in her peripheral vision. “…once I made this small piece, along with fabricating its setting, I felt as if I’d found my way home.”
One class a week became two, then a week long summer intensive. Almost four years of study followed. (Today, Jill periodically teaches at jewelry schools across the country.) “Everyone in the school started out making pieces in silver.” When she graduated to gold, Etruscan methodology became an important part of the curriculum. “ The pieces were fairly simple in style, but ornate in detail with fused, rather than soldered connections.” Based on early lessons from her grandmother, “sitting in her backyard hammock,” the artist also crocheted with wire she created herself by melting, shaping, and pulling gold through a metal drawplate, to form different guages. Since Jill didn’t enjoy wearing jewelry, the growing collection remained shut away in a safe.
One day, her husband suggested she apply to the prestigious Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show. “Much to my surprise, I got in. I was successful and realized doing shows would afford me the opportunity to continue doing what I loved most, fabricating my own designs.” In 2010, she participated in 18, prizing the opportunity to meet and get to know her clients.
Jill Hurant does not sell in stores or galleries. Outside of shows, her work is custom. It ranges widely from $500- $19,000. “At the beginning, I made geometric forms-Greek and Roman, now I think of what I make as classical jewelry with a modern edge. The elegant Egyptian Garnet Bracelet, Pink Tourmaline Pendant/Chain and Egyptian Ring show influences of Greece, Phoenicia, Egypt, Assyria and the Middle East, while the Quartz and and Blue Topaz Rough Necklaces have the more modern aesthetic of artfully utilized geodes. “The stones I use currently are more raw in nature, uneven with lots of inclusions. Imperfection of nature against the beautiful gold work makes my pieces more interesting.” The Crochet Bracelet with rose cut sapphires and pink sapphire beads is definitely modern, yet utilizes the age old handcraft. The chain-mail woven necklace with 5 antique rose cut diamonds is simply timeless. Love of architectural details, pattern and design inform Jill’s jewelry as does a deep appreciation for, though not copying of historical examples.
And the future? Jill is interested in creating a licensed mass market line for those women who can’t afford her jewelry. “Not copies,” she adds prudently. And aspires to one day helm lines of handbags and shoes.
To see more of Jill Hurant’s work visit www.jillhurant.com
