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C’mon, Get Hapi!
Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: 2017/06 - June
It takes a special magic to literally turn the ground you walk on into art.
Laura Schroeders is the wizard who can perform that kind of alchemy right before your very eyes. She is half of the husband/wife team who runs Highlands Gem Shop.
For Laura, cut and polished stones, minerals, geodes, and gems beg to be transformed into dramatic, one-of-a-kind creations.
“I am mesmerized by rocks and minerals in their raw state,” she says. “I’m drawn to rough, organic edges that encircle and sharply contrast their smooth, polished interiors.”
That’s what gives her work the edginess, pun intended, she adores.
When she can see into the heart of the stone, she’s spellbound by its visual movement, its fissures, its compelling lines, its color shifts, and even its flaws.
“Stones’ interior shapes, colors, and textures are often miniature land- and waterscapes,” she says. “I just finished a necklace in which I saw the interior of a wave. I went to the beach and held it up against the oceanscape. It perfectly matched the water, land, and sky. Synchronicity like that happens all the time when you work with natural elements.”
Laura has been making jewelry for about 15 years, but only recently developed her current line. She is thrilled when viewers say, “Wow! Your work is so different!” And they say that all the time, so she knows she is on to something exceptional.
By the way, Laura’s entire family rocks. Even her daughters are getting into jewelry making.
So what’s on the horizon for the Schroeders? Trunk shows, more outdoor exhibitions, introducing her line to more boutiques, and absolutely refusing to mass-produce. She likes keeping her business small, manageable, and personal. In fact, if you have stones you have mined, collected, or inherited, she would love to schedule time with you to design an heirloom work of wearable art.
Contact Laura through Instagram or Facebook (@makemehapidesigns) or Highlands Gem Shop.
