About the Artist
For the last 10 years, Dianna has been working and volunteering with Her Future Coalition, an international NGO working to improve the lives of human trafficking survivors, and at-risk women and children, by providing shelter, education and vocational training as a path to empowerment, economic independence and leadership. With HFC, she opened a jewelry studio in a shelter home in Kolkata, India, and started a jewelry training program employing 20 young women. When skills were well developed, it evolved into a jewelry production studio employing some of the first female metalsmiths in India. Four more studios opened in India, and one in Thailand, replicating and scaling the original program. Working together we are providing jewelry making as a therapeutic art, in addition to love and emotional stability, and keeping over 40 women gainfully employed and facilitating their further professional and personal development.
Dianna earned a B.A. in Political Science from University at Albany, New York, where she feels grateful for the opportunity to have studied and lived in the Netherlands and traveled Europe for a semester. She studied the classical techniques of metalsmithing and waxworking at Jewelry Arts Institute in New York City and continued a comprehensive metalsmithing education at Revere Academy of the Jewelry Arts in San Francisco, completing the Jewelry Technician Program. Dianna is a member of the Metal Arts Guild and Women’s Jewelry Association in San Francisco, as well as, serving on Sonoma County’s Human Trafficking Task Force. Current status: “living the dream” in beautiful Northern California, goldsmithing and making wine with her family while trying to make a positive, global impact on the world her daughter will grow up in.
Dianna B
Founder
Commitment to Sustainability
Dianna is deeply committed to responsible and ethical business practices, including, leaving the smallest environmental impact possible. All studio practices are eco-friendly: using recycled metals, conflict-free stones, or, recycled stones from reputable sources. All jewelry is made by Dianna in the USA.
About the Jewelry
Fabricated by hand in Healdsburg, California, using classical metalsmithing techniques, precious materials, bold design and ethical studio practices, talismans are made from gold, silver, precious and semi-precious gemstones, pearls and materials. Dianna likes to examine the cavities and textures of natural treasures like seashells, cork, seeds, rough gemstones and materials with character. Many of the pieces made from natural elements turned fine jewelry were curated from seashores and forests throughout Dianna’s life. Exploring the darker side of nature with regards to talismans is something she enjoys, for instance: a seashell overtaken with barnacles, or a maddeningly perfect repeating pattern in the slice of a shell, or even pushing metal to the point immediately before it melts. The balancing of organic and rustic elements with urban grit and industrial aesthetics is reflected in the Dianna’s jewelry. Utilizing classical metalsmithing foundations and bold, contemporary design, are the cornerstones of Dianna’s work.
Inspiration for the contemporary talismans comes from all aspects of nature and the elements, ancient stories, rock n’ roll, celestial entities and gritty places. Jewelry collections bear the names of gods and goddesses from the ancient world. Every deity in mythology has a story, filled with symbolism, and often connected to nature or an experience; mythology is an endless muse. She loves connecting these nature stories back to her jewelry. Lastly, the idea these ancient myths are younger than the art of goldsmithing is also fascinating, as one of the principal deities of Roman mythology was the god of fire and blacksmithing, Vulcan. In the spirit of embracing the beauty of our natural world, studio practices are as green: using recycled metals, products with the least environmental impact, and, conflict free stones from reputable sources.
Her Future Coalition is an international NGO working to improve the lives of human trafficking survivors, and at-risk women and children, by providing shelter, education and vocational training as a pathway to empowerment, freedom, economic independence and leadership.
We engage in long term, intensive interventions to rebuild girls’ lives. Our programs give survivors the tools to overcome tremendous stigma and to advance far above the poverty line, transforming their identity and social status. I worked with Her Future for 8 years and am a program developer, goldsmith and jewelry designer, teacher, fundraiser, strategic analyst and big sister.
