Stacey Lane

Jewelry making

Working with metal and stones is a way for me to focus on specific materials, to spend my life learning about the properties of both, and to continually push the boundaries of what is possible for me to make with them. For me, this relationship with material and process is humbling and, occasionally, transcendent.

My primary focus is lost-wax casting, using soft wax and adding stones and metal to the cast pieces. I love the process of lost-wax casting, and how the history of the process can be told in the metal by leaving fingerprints and impressions in the wax. The substantial weight and solid feel of the pieces are important to me. It is important to me that my work has a sense of humor, warmth and energy. I leave marks on my pieces that emphasize that they are made by hands.

I have been interested in the Home of the Perfect Christmas Tree project since originally hearing of the idea a few years ago in the early planning stages. I love the charm of the book, and the determination of the project managers to bring this idea to fruition. I am very interested in supporting local businesses, and projects that create strong community ties. I am proud to be associated with the project through my initial two charms – the heavenly angel and the cat. I hope to continue to create new charms over time to make whole bracelets that jangle on the arm like the one my mother wore when I was a child.

Stacey Lane is a studio jeweler living in Bakersville, NC. She studied art history and jewelry at the University of Georgia, Athens. After residing in Washington, DC for nine years where she had a studio in Adams Morgan, she moved to North Carolina to become the metals studio coordinator at Penland School of Crafts. Since 1997, she has worked at Penland in various positions while maintaining a studio jewelry business. Stacey is currently manager of community collaboration at Penland. She is married to Michael Kline, a former resident artist at Penland and studio potter in Bakersville, NC.