Florentina Hoop - Medium by Gresham

I’ve been stringing beads together ever since I was a young girl. I like to say I grew up making friendship bracelets just like every other little girl, except I never stopped. Ever since I can remember I’ve been interested in jewelry. Growing up I constantly took jewelry classes learning how to string, knot, wire wrap, solder, melt and design. I held my first trunk show in the sixth grade with 40 necklaces I made by hand and sold out! I continued creating and selling throughout my adolescent years and furthered my interest throughout college. I’ve always been drawn to the Italian Renaissance so I focused my collegiate studies on the art history of jewelry design and craft in that period. During this time I wrote my senior thesis titled, “Technical and Stylistic Changes in Jewelry from the Time of Theophilus to the Time of Cellini” which explores the significance of jewelry design during the Renaissance.

To this day I derive my main source of inspiration from the art, architecture, jewelry and lifestyle of the Renaissance period. Jewelry is like art in that it tells a story. One piece can carry meaning and the way in which one wears their jewelry tells something about them personally. I believe jewelry can empower people to feel beautiful and appreciated and my hope is to create pieces that evoke confidence and sophistication when worn.