About Me
Hi and thank you for being here!
My name is Jovy Rockey and I'm the person behind Jovy Rockey Jewelry. I'm a self-taught jewelry artist who started their creative journey in 2012. As someone who has enjoyed a variety of arts from a young age and was raised by parents who were crafty DIY-ers and small biz owners it only seemed inevitable that I ended up making a living as a creative. I've always loved and collected jewelry. I love how it can pull an outfit together and that it makes me feel beautiful in a way that enhances my features and expresses my personality. Our relationship with jewelry is one that is deeply intimate but is also something you wear to share with the world a little bit about who you are. It's a form of connection to ourselves and to others.
My inspiration has always been mid-century design with geometric shapes, lines, curves, and negative space always shining throughout my work. Artists such as Art Smith and Alexander Caulder have had a heavy influence on my work. When I began this journey I found my way to cold forging wire. I honed that technique over the course of 6 years and found a way for my voice to resonate in my jewelry. I built my brand with that signature style, but I had always wanted to expand my knowledge and technical skills in jewelry fabrication.
In 2019 I finally decided to take a weekend-long intensive workshop for beginners metalsmithing and it was incredible. It opened me up to so many new techniques and my mind was on fire with possibilities. Later that year, I applied for my first ever arts grant (shout out to Southeast MN Arts Council for the Individual Artists Grant!!) and actually got selected! I used that grant to purchase my first torch, fume extractor, and a handful of other tools and supplies to produce 24 pieces of jewelry using the new techniques I had learned and 8 visual art pieces using some of the same jewelry fabrication methods. It was exactly what I needed to enhance my craft and my business and push me into a new direction.
So here we are 3 years after that first class and I'm still honing my skills in metalsmithing. I have been so grateful for this journey. And I'm fortunate to experience more creative joy than I have in a long while and occasionally some frustration as I challenge myself to continue working to master my craft. I'm only human.
Most days you'll find me working away in my studio which is adjoined to my brick & mortar store, ORNO Gift + Home, in beautiful downtown Winona, MN. If I'm not in the shop or studio, I'm likely spending time with my pups and family or working on some kind of community project.
Past Interviews
Minnesota Monthly : At the Maker's Table : 2021
La Crosse Local Podcast : Ep 160 : 2021
