About Ruly Deen

 

Hello All!

I took my first jewelry class at age 12, and was so enamored with the craft that my parents helped me set up a small workshop at home. I took classes throughout high school and went on to earn a BFA degree in jewelry making in 1984, from the University of the Arts, in Philadelphia. 

I spent many years after college working in the jewelry trade on the East Coast, learning old-world techniques from European master craftsmen. This was a second education for me, and I still use processes I learned from these highly skilled metalsmiths in my work today. 

When I moved to the PNW in 1990, to live in Spokane, I began producing handmade silver jewelry under the name Argentum Aurum.  During the following 10 years, I spent much of my time travelling the country to exhibit at juried art and craft shows.  Although I was on the road a lot, I made hundreds of pieces of jewelry by hand, while also building all the displays for my work. 

When I stopped touring, I changed the business name to Silver Element Jewelry to refine my niche and focus people’s attention on my specific medium. I began to do my own photography and graphic design to bring my visual brand up to the same level of artistic inspiration as my metalwork. This is reflected in the current photos, text and graphics on this website, which are my own.

I had several retail gallery spaces in Spokane over the years, offering my work in a brick-and-mortar setting, offering a reliable place for locals to shop. During my 35-plus-year career, I have done over 100 private commission pieces as well as several notable institutional commissions, including one for Mobius Science Center and one for the Radiological Engineering Lab at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. I've also been featured in the Living section of the Spokesman Review and had several articles written about my work in the local press.

My jewelry work reflects some of my other creative passions: drawing and painting. I love to be outside in the beautiful Inland NW, and often sketch plein air in pencil, pastel and watercolor. These images adorn my home and workshop, directly connecting my experiences of nature as source material for my amulets.