An Interview with Anne Larsen Hollerbach

When did you know that you wanted to make jewelry?
I was introduced to metalsmithing in high school, by John Church at Interlochen Center for the Arts. I fell into the metals class by accident -- I did not want to take a required ceramics class, and the metalsmithing class was an acceptable alternative. I knew that I wanted to work with metal the first time I saw solder flow along a seam: I realized that this was a close as I would ever get to practical magic. I learned fabrication, forging, raising, and casting, but I never applied those skills to jewelry until eleven years later, when I enrolled in a metals class at a local college for fun. Everyone there was making jewelry, so I had a closer look. I don't wear much jewelry myself, but I found the small scale intriguing so I started exploring. That was in the autumn of 1993. Now the majority of my output is jewelry, but I still do lots of flatware, vessels, boxes, and other non-wearable items. I believe changing scale is an important design exercise. More importantly, I don't think you can fully appreciate all of metal's wonderful qualities as a medium until you learn to manipulate it with hammers. I consider myself more a metalsmith than a jeweler.

What do you enjoy most about your work?
My work is a rare combination of things I enjoy. I get to work with metal, a material so rich in possibilities that I will never exhaust them. I get to work with color, in the form of stones and enamels. All the years I painted with watercolors I was searching for the quality of color that can only be found in the bond between glass and metal. I get to teach, which forces me to develop a thorough understanding of all aspects of my craft and to express these things with order and clarity. It also exposes me to more technical challenges than I would encounter on my own, so I find solutions to more problems. Finally, I get to apply other skills I value like drawing, tool-making, writing, and designing. I love what I do: I am truly blessed.

What do you see as the next big challenge in your work?
Balancing the demands of my teaching schedule with my need for private time to do my own work. I have recently expanded my studio to take into account the needs of my students. Now I am trying to find the right ratio between time spent teaching, with its demands and rewards, and time spent with my own work, including production, commissions, mastering new tools, portfolio development, and play. I am also taking on more responsibilities as a member of the Society of North American Goldsmiths. My goal is to spend 50% of my studio time on my own work, and 50% on teaching and other professional activities. This has proven to be much harder than I imagined it would be.

What do you do when you are not doing metalwork?
The boundary between my studio work and the rest of my life is difficult to detect since I do a lot of work-related thinking outside of the studio itself. I am always open to those little "Aha!" moments that contain new designs, or the solution to a particular problem. These can come when I am writing, cooking, gardening, reading, or playing with my pets.

What would you be doing today if you weren't making jewelry?
I'd be writing and illustrating children's books