Randi Chervitz has been making jewelry since 1987. She began exploring forms in metal at Parsons School of Design, New York City, as part of her studies there. From Parsons, Chervitz transferred to Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, the "Harvard" of metalsmithing, to study with internationally-known jeweler, Richard Mawdsley.

Since graduating in 1991 with a Cum Laude double major in Metal and Fiber, Chervitz has been hard at work keeping her artwork at the center of her life. In 1991, she began selling her work, jewelry pieces that explore fiber techniques in metal. Her influences include couture fashion, its history, expressiveness, and relationship to everyday life. Also important are the transformation of the role of women in the past fifty years, and the emergence of the self as one grows through life.

While building a following on the retail art fair circuit, Chervitz continued her personal and professional development by working in leadership roles in national and local retail stores. These experiences taught her to respect the consumer, as well as created an understanding of how high-end, one-of-a-kind objects influence the mass market. Developing this knowledge has given her a unique perspective and understanding of how various market segments influence each other, and the impact that can have on artists choosing to make their livings through their art.

Chervitz feels privileged to make her own living through her art-making, and is constantly exploring new ways to create texture through metal. Her crocheted surfaces are her trademark, and hammered and soldered linear techniques reveal new directions.

Chervitz lives in Saint Louis, MO with her family.

I first picked up my grandmother's crochet hook while taking a metal-smithing class in college. She taught me to knit when I was a child, and I always had good feelings about the individual stitches that make up a larger whole. Crocheting silver to make wearable objects quickly became my signature. From that exploration, I have continued on to add hammered metal, and a soldered, linear technique to my repertoire, as I continue to explore how assembling lines creates something significant.

Through my techniques, I examine formal artistic concepts such as line quality, pattern, composition, and wearability in jewelry. Lately, I lean toward symmetrical, graphic pieces with obvious pattern references.

I seek visual inspiration from popular culture, including trends in fashion, media, and interior design. As silhouettes change, new jewelry shapes become important. Sometimes I try to follow the trends, designing jewelry that "works" for a season. But more often, I aim for pieces that respond to subtler cultural cues. Soft shapes, hard lines, and sizes of the work speak about how we feel in our lives at any particular moment. It is my job as an artist to reflect these feelings.

Line quality, pattern, composition, and form tie me back to artistic tradition, as well as the larger patterns of the human family. I still enjoy transforming metal into the fabric of our lives.