Today we’d like to introduce you to Kari Goin.
Hi Kari, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Quite honestly I’ve always been creative, since I was a young child. I grew up with 12 siblings, and my family was very poor. Money was scarce. If there was something I wanted, I had to figure out how to make it. Most of the time I did just that. Fast forward to adulthood, I found myself surviving domestic violence that nearly ended my life, which led to substance abuse. I had lost my creative edge while trying to stay alive. Now, clean and sober for 11 years, creating has become the thing in my life that that excites me the most about being alive. Having been enthralled by fire for most of my adult life, creating art with torches and flame became my obsession, and I spend hours and hours on YouTube watching and learning and taking in as much information as I could until I worked up the courage (and the money) to purchase a basic tool kit and a very tiny piece of .925 sterling silver sheet. I worked for two days on a tiny pendant that came out wonky and all wrong and I was SO PROUD of my accomplishment. That ugly little pendant that I love so much now hangs above my bench, reminding me daily where I came from and what my art has done for me. I have been silversmithing ever since. That was in 2016, so almost a decade.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has NEVER been a smooth road for me. I wouldn’t trust it if it were because I have learned that things truly worth having just don’t come easy. If they did, they wouldn’t be special. I struggle with feeling like my work isn’t good enough, or that I am a fraud because I’m self taught. But then I remind myself that I have regular customers that have been with me for almost a decade and they anxiously await any new collection drops I have. They are willing to put hard earned money in my hands in exchange for a piece of my work, so I dismiss those thoughts as quickly as they come.
Other struggles, and probably the biggest struggle of all, would include the ever rising cost of silver. I recently acquired a smelting kit and a rolling mill and have been working from the nearly 10 years old pile of scraps that I never got around to sending to the refinery, so I haven’t had any real costs lately, but it’s coming.
Finally COVID destroyed my small business and for a time I was forced to close the studio doors and retreat to a 9-5 and that nearly broke my heart.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a metalsmith, and I create handcrafted jewelry from sterling and fine silver. Sometimes I use copper, but i’m drawn to silver most. What sets me apart is that if you spend any amount of time following my work, you’ll pick up on the subtle stories told through silver and stone. I’m not out here just making pretty stuff, I am literally a storyteller, and silver is my blank book. My proudest moments are at the end of a collection release when I have created an entire collection of jewelry pieces that have told a story from folklore, or history or most recently a story of a portulaca plant that was popping up all around me all summer long. I felt drawn to the plant and believed it was a sign from whatever is out there. In doing, my research I learned that portulaca is a hardy species that thrives in the harshest environments. I was taken back by the parallels of things that I was struggling through in my personal life and decided to create a collection based on the resilience of this tiny little perfect flower. And I conveyed such through silver and stone, which in turn reminded me of my own resilience in all that I had endured already. Was a poignant and powerful experience for me as an artist.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Camping.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.newmoonsilver.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newmoon_silver/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NewMoonSilver/
- Other: https://linktr.ee/KariNewMoon
Image Credits
none
