Jewelry Mentor

The truth is that I didn’t find art. Art found me.

Somewhere out in the forgotten fields lies my muse. I am a

modern day hunter-gatherer. I am in love with other people’s

trash. From the rubble, I find treasure to create my wares

combining another era. Self taught artist, craftswoman and

teacher, Nancy founded Sweet Bird Studio in 1988 in her

basement next to the furnace of her home. Sweet Bird Studio

now can be found internationally in galleries and through her

Sweet Bird Studio has exhibited for several decades at numerous

trade shows such as the New York and L.A. International Gift

Fairs, Buyers Market of American Craft and American Craft

Counsel shows to name a few, as well as hundreds of retail craft

fairs.

Nancy’s art and jewelry have been exhibited and collected

internationally, including many celebrities and musicians, the

most recent being the jewelry for the movie, Rock of Ages with

Tom Cruise. Her designs have been featured in many books and

magazines, including Found Object Art, 1001 Jewelry

Inspirations, Mixed Media Art, Art Making and Studio Spaces,

Cowboys and Indians, Lapidary Journal, and Belle Amour to name

a few.

In addition to design and creation, Anderson also teaches her

creative process to kids on up to adults nationally in her own

workshops as well as universities such as Montana State, Univ.

of Kansas, Naropa University and the Taos Institute of The Arts,

to name a few. Nancy also is a co-facilitator and peer mentor for

a sober teens group called Natural Highs in Boulder, Colorado.

This obsession with sun-aged treasures aids her in finding

purpose in her work. Discards from another era traces back to

when she was seven, fascinated by museum exhibits and going

to Turkish bazaars in Germany buying beads by the time she was

nine. “I prefer alleys, salvage yards and fields to storefronts. In

that search, I am most touched and amazed by the people I meet

in those “chance” encounters along the way. “This has

compelled me to become a social artist as well as a visual artist,

I am passionate about helping people that make their lives from

a place of meaning and creativity. That is why they are

affectionately called, “Wearable Shrines of Intention”.