Martha Stuart Bergquist

I was born and raised on the east side of Michigan. My husband, John and I visited Grand Haven, when our daughter had an internship 3 years ago. We fell in love with the Grand Haven area and its walkability. We moved here 2 years ago, and have enjoyed it ever since! 
My husband and I were looking for a hobby, that we could do together when we retire. John discovered Studio JSD. We thought, lets take some classes and go from there. We took Fabrication 1 & 2 and Lapidary. 
I think of myself as a creative person, having worked with different mediums through the years. I find metal has been my biggest challenge yet but, I am enjoying the challenge.
I mainly work with sterling silver and like to use copper occasionally as accents.I have been a resident artist at Studio JSD for almost a year now. There are so many techniques to explore!
My husband John and I have been experimenting with broom straw casting. It's a technique where you melt sterling silver and pour it into actual broom straw fibers, that are soaked in water to create a one of a kind casting. These castings can be used as the main feature in a piece of jewelry or as an accent.
"I get excited when I create a piece of jewelry for a client and it meets their expectations and they enjoy wearing it."
If you see anything you might be interested in, you can contact me or set up an appointment to meet me at the studio.
 
           "Metal smithing has taught me to slow down and have patience I didn't know I had."

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