About Jerrica

Hi! My name is Jerrica and I am an artistic girl of Albuquerque, New Mexico.  I have always had the desire to be creative for as long as I can remember.  It wasn’t until I was around 16 that I discovered my love for unique stones and creating jewelry.  

It was my second year in ceramics class, that I had the most wonderful teacher that drew every ounce of creativity out of me!  Basketball season had also just started for me, and I was inspired to make the entire team ankle bracelets with our team colors.  I had never done this before however I thought it would be fairly simple to figure out.  I went to the local hobby store to pick out beads with our team colors and all of the supplies to begin, what would be a life-long love!

While deciding what beads I wanted to use for the team; All of the other beautiful, unique stones and beads captivated me.  So much so, that I purchased my favorite ones for myself.  I was so excited to make a necklace out of those beads, that it was the first thing I did when I got home.  I had made my first necklace!  I had no idea what I was doing, and I think I even tied the wire to the clasp. I also started working on the team ankle bracelets that night and we all ended up tieing them on our ankles with string.  

I brought my first necklace to school the very next day to show my ceramics teacher.  She told me: “This is very nice!  Great job!  Ya know, there’s a store in Old Town that has semi-precious stones and all the tools and materials you need to finish the jewelry professionally!  They’ll even teach you how to do it!”  This is where my jewelry making journey began!  

I ended up going to that store my teacher recommended, got a job there; and for almost 2 years worked as an apprentice by renowned jewelry artist Michele Roth.  Michele made the whole learning experience fun and taught me everything she knew about jewelry making. I picked up her skills very quickly and began to develop my own style and designs.  

I was accepted as a vendor for my first show called Traditions in Santa Fe New Mexico at 17.  I was filled with excitement to showcase my work and talk to potential customers about my jewelry.  

My first show was such a success that I completely sold out of my entire jewelry inventory!  After that I realized that I had something to share with the world; and people actually liked my work.  I’ve been creating jewelry now for 15 years and continue developing my craft as an artist.