April Ottey Jewelry

April Ottey is a jewelry artist whose work explores the transformative power of nature. She focuses on the intricate details of the natural world—the architecture, texture, and shape of natural artifacts—in order to draw attention to the beauty surrounding us that we too often overlook.

In her studio on the Washington coast, crafting jewelry has become her full-time job. She uses traditional casting techniques to transform the natural items she collects into sterling silver and gold. She then embellishes many pieces with beach stones and gemstones using traditional metalsmithing techniques. She uses ethically-sourced metals and stones, and she takes great care in the craftsmanship of each piece.

Each piece of April’s jewelry is the culmination of a twofold passion. Firstly, she takes the time to truly see. April notices beauty where many people tend to zoom out—in the delicate petals of a blossom, in the geometry of a fallen seedpod, in the intricate texture of tree bark. It is a skill she has been refining since her childhood in Montana, which she spent almost entirely outdoors picking up anything and everything that piqued her interest. The second piece of her process is transformation. April casts the natural objects she’s collected and incorporates her own contemporary artistic vision, and in the fusion of the two, creates something wholly new: adornments that catch the eye and rouse the spirit.