Judy Bjorkman

Judy Bjorkman lives in Owego and is a self-taught artisan who has constructed multimetal jewelry for the past 40 years. She taught jewelry-making at BOCES in Syracuse for several years, at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico, and currently teaches adult-education classes at SUNY-Broome in Binghamton. Judy has recently begun working in polymer clay, as well, which she enjoys because of the range and intensity of its colors.

Judy prefers making jewelry in abstract designs, most often of a larger style. The Modernist Jewelry movement is inspirational for her, especially such artists as Alexander Calder. She uses base metals (copper, brass, nickel-silver) because they are both affordable and beautiful. She enjoys utilizing the techniques of brazing, hard-soldering, etching, reticulation, fold-forming, hammer-decorating, and occasionally makes chain-mail pieces and her own metal beads. Her favorite stone beads are agates, jaspers, lapis lazuli (and many more)!

She also writes and lectures on the history and literature of the Ancient Near East. Sometimes, she likes to use designs from that area and period of time in her work.