Laurel Burch was a self-taught artist who started making jewelry to support her family. She developed a talent for cloisonné and started her own company in 1979. Her work gained popularity and she shared profits with organizations. She passed away in 2007, but her designs continue to be licensed and enjoyed by consumers.
Colorful cats, Native American-inspired horses, and birds from the tropical to the simple dove evoke memories of Laurel Burch, an esteemed artist, metalworker, and jewelry specialist whose designs flourished, especially in the 1980s, and gained popularity in the 2000s. Laurel Burch, née Laurel Anne Harte, was born in California in 1945. An early marriage in 1964 and a divorce soon after inspired the self-taught artist, then a single mom of two young children, to start making jewelry in an effort to support the his family.
With two children and no money, Laurel Burch was 20 and trying to survive on the dole. His early attempts to provide for her family resulted in a shoplifting charge for getting meat from a grocery store to feed her son more protein. During those lean years, however, she quickly discovered a talent for jewelry making and began selling her work in the Haight Ashbury district of San Francisco, California, where she lived. Maintaining a normal job and caring for two young children was especially difficult for Burch, as she suffered from a medical condition, osteopetrosis, which caused her to suffer from chronic pain and over 100 single bone fractures during her lifetime.
In 1971, business was good enough for Laurel Burch to travel to China, where she developed an interest in cloisonné, a type of ancient form of metalworking that involves coating metal with glass-based paint and firing the result to create an enamelled finish on the metal. Burch first painted, and then used many of her paintings as designs for earrings, brooches and other jewelry, and found an avid supporter in Shashi Singapuri, a well-known East India trader, who had first brought her works to attention. of the Chinese.
Later, Laurel Burch started her own company in 1979, Laurel Burch Incorporated. Burch’s work won high praise as unique jewelry that didn’t rely on trends. Her profits grew as the company grew and her jewelry gained more attention, and she shared some of the profits widely with organizations such as human societies. Her work extended to fabrics, accessories and she eventually disbanded her her company in the mid 1990s and licensed her designs to various companies.
Although Burch’s work was very recognizable and she was widely praised for her art, her life was complicated and hard at times. A second marriage ended in divorce, but she was happily married to her third husband, Rick Sara, at the time of his death in 2007. His death was brought on by complications from her illness but certainly left an indelible mark on her life. art and in the jewelry world. Especially with so many of her licensed designs, consumers can once again enjoy collecting her beautiful work on mugs, jewellery, bags, shirts and scarves, and it is likely that these designs will long honor her memory.
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