Amy Peters became a jewelry designer at the the age of 8. An after-school program in jewelry enameling sparked a lifetime love of jewelry making. After that program she went on to bead-working, pearl knotting, casting and fabricating jewelry. She worked at an after-school job knotting pearls during high school and worked in a bead shop through college. Peters' attended Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, but Jewelry design wasn't offered as a major. After taking every class offered at the school, she packed her bags and she transferred to San Francisco State. She was able to create her own major and received her BA in Metal Arts and Jewelry Design from San Francisco State in 1989. After college she continued to perfect her craft but treated it more as a hobby than a career. Over the years she worked working various jobs to earn a living. Everything from Retail sales and a Kidney Transplant coordinator at Stanford Hospital's blood center. She credits her many business skills to everything she learned at these jobs. "Every learning experience is worthwhile," Peters often says.
She finally decided she wanted a change of scenery and moved back to California's central coast. She took a job at a local art gallery, where she got the courage to take the leap to professional artist. A prominent artist urged her "if you haven't used your art to make a living within 5 years of graduating art school, you probably never will" It had been 4 1/2 years, so she lept. After renting a 9-foot by 15-foot Victorian carriage shed with a dirt floor and no running water, she filled out her business papers and Amy Peters' Studio was born in 1995.
It is important for Peters' that her inspirational jewelry be affordable and accessible to everyone. "I want the designs to be inspirational and to be keepsakes and talismans for everyday life" states Peters. "I especially love the time in a girl's life when she is just finding her voice, My hope is that my designs can help them along their voyage"
Her work has been seen in magazines including People, Us Magazine, Cosmo Girl, Working Woman, The Crafts Report, Giftware News, Accessories and Gifts and Decorative Accessories. On television her work has been seen on Survivor, The OC, Road Rules and Sabrina. Her inspirational jewelry is in the collections of many of today's hottest celebrities.
Click here to see all of Amy's work.