Amy Shilling studios seeks to affect the quality of a person's day through exquisite jewelry that connects people across time, culture and borders. Amy focuses on petroglyph images cast in metal and artisinal recycled glass beads. She has shown her work extensively, both nationally and internationally.

Her path into jewelry opened itself after exploring petroglyphs in New Mexico, California, Hawaii, South America and Europe and identifying striking similarities. She felt called to share what she identified as universal truths that were communicated across diverse ancient cultures. answering this call, Amy began using the “lost wax” technique to cast metal pieces resembling the carvings as they appear in rock.

Her respect for cultural diversity and concern for others led her to spend a month working directly with a community of Ghanaian bead makers in 2005. She has established a lasting trading partnership with the community and worked to share their story as well as their creations. Amy’s work represents a sum larger than its parts – pieces that connect the essence of the human soul across time and geographic borders, and express the beauty that arises out of relationships built on open hearts and minds.

You can share Amy's thoughts and photos from Ghana and a media piece that highlights how this experience has further shaped her creative vision and business mission.

The following piece covers the beginnings of Amy Schilling Studios:

When Amy Schilling first stumbled upon some petroglyphs while hiking in New Mexico, she was fascinated. Despite working as a ceramic artist, she clearly envisioned these symbols recreated in metal and began a quest that has led her to become the highly respected jeweler that she is today.

“I think many people mistakenly write off petroglyph images as ‘Southwestern art,’ ” Schilling says. “It’s only natural, for that’s where many first encounter this type of rock writing. But petroglyphs are all over this earth. I’m amazed to find similar symbols in California, Hawaii and Bolivia. It says to me that this is not the communication of a certain tribe or peoples, but that there is something more basic and universal going on.”

While there are numerous sites around the world, rock writing remains largely unstudied and undeciphered, a mysterious form of communication that we are only beginning to understand. Rock writing includes both pictographs, which are symbols painted on a rock wall, and petroglyphs, which are carved or pecked through the dark surface of the rock to expose lighter color underneath. Schilling explains, “The difficulty is in understanding cultures that didn’t live or think the way we do. The symbol system of Native Americans is a
non-linear form of communication that is totally dependent on context and location. It’s similar to a dream language, which is very exciting to me as an artist. As a member of this planet, I’m intrigued to learn what ancient cultures can tell us.”

Schilling translates petroglyphs into jewelry with a subtle beauty. Her chains are composed of irregular, organic shaped beads of metal that are far from sterile manufactured perfection. They are imbued with the unmistakable elegance of handcrafted art. Her trademark clasps become features that underscore their purpose as the means of enclosing the circle, as well as linking together the past with the present. “I like versatility in my pieces, so when I create a set, the bracelet is designed to hook into the necklace for a longer work. Likewise, you can hook the necklace shorter anywhere on its length and have a different look.” These are highly individual pieces made to be worn in whatever creative way imagined.

Most of Schilling’s work has been done in a series format. With each site she visits, she studies the petroglyphs and creates numerous sketches on the spot. She then returns to her studio and recreates the symbols in wax for casting. She uses the “Lost Wax” technique, allowing her to capture the feeling of the petroglyph carved into gold or silver just as it was carved into the rock.

As her travels have taken her farther and farther from her studio in Telluride, Schilling has delighted in the immense variation of rock art styles and begun to recognize different geographic and cultural boundaries. “The Coso Medicine man was one of my most popular series, and people saw it as Southwestern, but it actually came from a site in southern California. I’m hoping to expand people’s awareness of the petroglyphs as well as their diverse aesthetics.”

One of Schilling’s favorite researchers of rock writing, Polly Schaafsma, writes “Rock art is an important means of reaching some understanding of the sacred dimensions.” The sacred element is highly present in Schilling’s work. She honors both female and male energy, melding them together through the use of organic shapes and the precision of craftsmanship. Her works are very precise, rarely symmetrical, yet very balanced.

The Hawaiian series features petroglyphs from the Kupa site, which is largely devoted to female symbols and the sacred act of giving birth. Schilling celebrates this never-ending cycle of life, of light and darkness, in a deeply textured bracelet chain and earrings beautifully accented with garnets. Precious and semi-precious stones highlight Schilling’s interpretations with the luminosity and depth of color made by nature while echoing the petroglyphs’ original medium of rock. “I have a particular weakness for sapphires in unusual colors, and Mexican opals ... especially those in orange hues.”

Schilling’s background is a journey in itself. She credits Martha Stewart with the initial push that took her from being creative with food into other artistic areas. “Back then, I was one of four employees that worked with Martha on catering events. She suggested I take a course in flower arranging and the next thing I knew, I was enrolled as a full-time student and exploring other courses in [NYC’s] Parsons School of Design.” It was there that she met jeweler Jaime Pelissier whose works were then available at Tiffany’s. She undertook a two-year apprenticeship at his Greenwich, Connecticut studio learning the art of working with metal and crafting fine jewelry. “I’m honored to have such a mentor,” says Schilling. “Recently, I went back to his studio to learn his secrets of how to work with platinum and set stones in it.”

While gold in a variety of alloys and colors is typical of Schilling’s work, she is now exploring other metals and mediums. “Platinum is such an interesting contrast with yellow gold and silver. I’m also playing with rough organic glass shapes juxtaposed with the precision of a cut diamond. My current series, based on the petroglyphs of Peru and Bolivia, seems to be calling for this.”

Schilling works very intuitively with the ancient symbols she discovers. She seeks to resurrect the mysterious symbolism that lingers on, linking cultures not only with present-day inhabitants but across global boundaries. Her business name, “Sha Shawk,” embodies her philosophy — it means “to echo” in the Native American language of Tewe. Schilling explains, “Rock art is our heritage, and through my work, I hope to keep the ancient echo alive.”

- Telluride Magazine (Summer 1998)