Hello, I suppose that my intro was a bit brief…I’m not
much of a horn tooter! Here is a reprint of an article about my
wife and I (honk):
Steve, a second generation Goldsmith, began his training in the
late nineteen sixties at the elbow of his father, Alfred H.
Wardle, Professor of metalwork at the Munson Williams Proctor
Institute in Utica, New York. There he absorbed the finesses that
his father used in silversmithing and jewelry work. Steve later
became his father’s assistant instructor at the institute. A BFA
from The Rochester Institute of Technology’s School of Fine and
Applied Art followed. After Graduation, Steve entered into
partnership in The Gold Mine, Inc., a fine jeweler and
manufacturing establishment that is now enjoying it’s seventeenth
year in New Hartford, New York. He has built quite a following of
custom design work customers who have sought him for his natural
forms and inventive design solutions. In 1994, Steve left to
start something new while still maintaining his interest in the
Gold Mine. He and his wife Barbara opened Forest Beach Design at
402 Main Street in Chatham on Cape Cod, a fine jewelry studio
featuring their own work. Their Designer - Goldsmith practice
has now enjoyed three successful years.
Barb received her BFA an MS degrees from Syracuse University’s
School of Visual and Performing Arts. Her career has consisted
of more than a decade of the instruction of fine art and
ceramics. She has more recently been applying her creative color
skills to jewelry design. Her color sense makes her very popular
with her clients. Barb’s other passion is the coaching of
swimming. She is an A.S.C.A. certified level four swimming coach
and has guided many young people and teams to successful swimming
careers.
…I work mostly in gold and unusual gemstones and I produce a
line of… (and I hate the term) …charms. They are highly
detailed and regional in flavor…Cape and Island Lighthouses,
flora, fauna, crustacea, boats, furniture, Nantucket Lightship
Baskets, …I suppose that they might be thought of by some as
very expensive alternatives to tee shirts, but they are much
nicer than the usual manufactured goods. They certainly pay the
mortgage. …Steve
Steven B. Wardle & Barbara W. Knowlton
Designer-Goldsmiths
Forest Beach Design
Chatham MA 02633
508-945-7334