Raleigh Street Gallery

Susan Szpunar
As a person who has been a member of a military family most of my life, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to see a lot of the world.  I’ve met people from all nationalities, seen just as many ways of life, and witnessed all the splendors that cultural awareness has to offer.  In my years of travel, I’ve grown to respect craftsmanship on all levels, the countless facets of art, and the unlimited potential that imagination can bring.  I directly attribute my love for jewelry to my mother, a true connoisseur of personal adornment.  Her extensive collection was comprised of pieces from all parts of the world, and from all mediums imaginable.  I’ve marveled over her collection ever since I was a child, asking time and time again the story behind each and every piece.  As an adult, my personal collection has taken many forms, often changing to suit my fancy at the time.  Through the years, I’ve managed to stay one step ahead of the ebb and flow of popular demand.  My fashion-forward sense of jewelry has allowed me to invest in vast selections of Siam and the enameled designs by K. Denning, all well before their trends boomeranged back into the mainstream.  However, above all, my appreciation for jewelry paved the way for the latest stage in my jewelry career, the opportunity to create.
The desire to harness an individual’s given talents is relatively common these days; everyone has an idea and we all want to feel accomplished.  As I collected, repaired, and restored vintage jewelry, I realized how I could use my ideas to accomplish something for myself; I could design and sell my own jewelry.  I typically start with one or two vintage objects as a foundation to build “one-of-a-kind” products; complete with individual style, mood, and theme.  I restore or repair each vintage object, then combine that object with modern mediums and a new start.  I breathe new life into abandoned relics.  Like the phoenix, the discarded memories I save are reincarnated from their previous lifetimes for the modern world.  Since each piece of jewelry is its own project, no two pieces are alike, and every product receives the same level of attention, I’ll often have up to five products under development at a time.  By juggling projects, I can continuously evaluate each piece’s progression, ensuring each completed piece is afforded the best second chance.
It has taken me years to direct my interests into a unique product and tons of encouragement to reveal my artistic vision to the world.  Marching out into the designer world has been riddled with equal parts anxiety and joy.  As I’ve found successes and personal triumph through support, my urge to create has flourished.  I hope you’ll approach my collections with an appreciation for the eras of jewelry that have been forgotten and with the hope to uniquely express yourself through what you wear.