Jim Dunakin



As an artist, I find beauty in most everything I see. I am constantly amazed at the endless variety of textures and colors to be found in nature. Much of what is considered ordinary displays amazingly beautiful qualities when seen in certain ways. I see myself as an interpreter of nature.

As a jewelry artist in particular, I find it exciting to work in a field which has long been dominated by artificial values. Everything in nature has value. Each is a part of some history; the bone is a reminder of a life lived, an old iron rivet played a tiny role in a farmer's struggle to survive, the pebble part of a long journey through the ages. It is in this context that the real beauty of these materials can be seen.

It is with this in mind that I combine these diverse objects in a way that will show the cohesiveness of all that nature has to offer us. The perfect gem can sit alongside of the piece of bone and each has an equal place. Just as in nature itself, it is in the interaction of all the parts that the whole takes on beauty and meaning.