Deb Karash brings color to metal using a technique more often used on paper. She creates beautiful jewelry by drawing on metal with Prismacolor pencils. A fascination with color and texture informs her work, both geometric and botanical, with the occasional branching off into whimsical robots and rockets. While her subject matter may change, her unusual technique remains consistent. It is her bold use of color and her application technique that drives students around the world to seek her out as a teacher. Why does Deb choose to draw on metal? “Jewelry is about intimacy and connection. It has a history of marking special moments in time and it is one of the rare art forms that we carry out in the world with us. We use it to tell the outside world something about ourselves.” Through teaching she delights in sharing her skills and bringing students together to learn and to share their own skills and stories. For her, teaching is more than just imparting information. “There is a joy in giving a student that ‘aha’ moment when something really changes for them,” she says, “I love guiding their skills to the next level.”

“My creative process is time-consuming but drawing on metal provides a surface that is unique and can’t be achieved any other way. Colored pencil drawing allows me to blend colors and create patterns that are uniquely mine. Jewelry combines so many components that I love: fashion, ornament, art, texture, color, and structure.”

“Art is not a thing, it is away.” Elbert Hubbard

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