Nova's Jewelry made it to the cover of Elle Magazine.
Nova's Picot Edge EarringOur Pioneer instructor and student advisor,
Nova Bronstein, has shaped the Sheffield course since its inception. Nova is originally from the San Francisco Bay area on the West Coast. She now resides in Brooklyn, NY and recently became a new mom. Her artistic endeavors were nurtured and supported from an early age by parents who were both artists. Following her passion she shifted to New York to get her B.F.A in Metalsmithing from State University of New York at New Paltz. Additionally, Nova studied at The Crucible in Oakland, CA and Fashion, Textile, and Knitwear Design at Academy of Art in San Francisco. In addition to sharing her knowledge with budding jewelry designers at Sheffield she has taught at the Museum of Art and Design in NYC, The Shelbourne Craft Center in Shelbourne, VT and out of her Brooklyn, NY studio. Nova's work can be viewed at
www.novacolette.com.
Earrings by Haley M.
Haley Mindes first began her fascination with jewelry making when she learned how to macrame bracelets and anklets during summer camp. Originally from New York, Haley received a B.F.A from Hartford Art School in CT. After graduation Haley moved to back to NY where she worked as a graphic designer by day, taking metalsmithing classes in the evening at New York institutions like F.I.T, School of Visual Arts and the 92nd St. Y. After learning enough techniques to create work on her own from her apartment, Haley began building a small business by selling her jewelry to boutiques across the country. To this day the inspiration to incorporate macrame into her work, along with other mediums such as, stones, resin and leather combined with metals is still going strong. Currently Haley is a student advisor at Sheffield helping students with whatever questions they have throughout the course. Her work can be viewed at
www.haleym.com.
Bracelet by Kari AuerbachKari Auerbach, first discovered her love for jewelry making by creating pieces out of empty small perfume glass sample bottles. She filled them with beads and figured out how to attach them to earrings and chains and people started buying them up. This inspired her to take a few classes at F.I.T and Parsons School of Design. Kari honed her skills with on the job training working for other jewelry designers. With a vast array of work experience under her belt from working as a model maker, jewelry designer for a cruiseline, creating metal logo tags to even designing tiara's, she eventually began selling her own designs to boutiques. Along with a couple of friends Kari opened a women's artist co-op shop on 9th St. in downtown NY, called Mayhem. There she sold her edgy romantic designs referred to as the Hells Cherub collection. Now she keeps busy nurturing the talent of budding Sheffield designers, as well as her son here in New York City.
Jewelry by Dori EisenhauerDori Eisenhauer started her career as an actress and took up her second career, jewelry design, when she realized it was either purchase raw materials and make your own accessories or do without them on a struggling actress budget. Dori studied at Pratt Fine Arts Center in Seattle, WA. Soon after she moved to New York City and continued her jewelry design studies at the 92nd Street Y, as well as, under Donna Distefano, former resident goldsmith at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Dori is currently happily living in Brooklyn, NY with her dog, Tribble, and enjoying sharing her knowledge with Sheffield students on how to grow your jewelry design addiction into a small business. Dori still divides her time between her love of acting and jewelry design, her work can be viewed at
www.ikedesignsjewelry.com.
Serena Van Rensselaer's intrigue with jewelry began as a young girl, when she used to visit her grandmother and her namesake, Serena. The elder Serena was an extremely talented painter who loved all forms of art. But it was her collection of jewelry that captivated Serena, for she had pieces from around the world, and each piece had a story behind it.
Serena grew up in New Jersey, and went on to study Art History and Cultural Anthropology, before re-visiting her childhood passion of jewelry design in San Miguel D’Allende, Mexico. It was there that she took her first metal class, and fell in love with thecreative process. Serena worked, studied and traveled to Europe and the Caribbean, honing her skills as a metal smith.
Serena lived for years in St.Thomas & St. John where she co-owned a gallery. She loved living by the ocean, and found the islands incredibly inspiring. In 1999, she moved to New York City, and settled in the East Village. She thrived on the creative energy in NYC, and opened a studio.
In 2007, she had a baby boy; Aziz Skyler who is her greatest joy and inspiration. She balances her time, creating new jewelry collections, raising her son and teaching NYIAD Jewelry students.
Haley Mindes 
