Tran-quil-ah
Krista Tranquilla
What started as a creative outlet has blossomed into a dedicated studio in Truckee, CA, where Krista designs and handcrafts every piece of jewelry. Her passion is fueled by the natural world and the tranquil landscapes surrounding her. Inspiration flows from small moments of peace and reflection, whether glimpsing the night sky through trees or carrying a comforting phrase close to the heart.
The real dirt on Krista
My mom was a textile artist so I had that all around me and then we lived overseas in the 80's. This was before globalization and when we traveled, you could see a locally made handcraft that was only from that country. My best friend's dad from that time was a diplomat traveling the world, bringing us handmade gifts from all over. The seeds of the handmade world were planted. Then I had an internship in college. I was 20 years old and about 6 hours away from school and knew no one. Most people were at least 20 years older than me so I looked for things to do at night and stumbled into a jewelry making class. I fell in love. Kept it as hobby til 2012 when I traded my desk job for the handmade life.
When I jumped in full time, I was doing lots of topographical maps. Lots of custom maps using a process called image transfer. Unfortunately, a lot my demographic really loved their jewelry hard. So I had a problem..I was only making maps and they were not lasting.
Then one cold winter night, I was in our hot tub after a busy day and I looked into the sky and there was Orion perfectly framed by the trees. I knew I had to find a way to get that image onto jewelry in a way that would last. After lots of trial and error, I started roller-printing night skies that you see on my website today!
I love it when customers call me clever.
I live in Truckee, CA. We are in the Sierra Nevada at about 6000 feet. It's real pretty here!!!! I get out everyday with my dog and most good ideas happen there!
The technique I use is called roller printing. It is a traditional metal-smithing technique. You might have seem a similar concept when you visited a museum and paid a quarter to have a new pattern embossed into a penny. Same idea, except its my designs/custom printing plates and me cranking the rolling mill.
Well, I don't make my chains!! For the majority of the pieces, I make from scratch. I have a small line that is cast or etched from my designs.
Fast fashion jewelry. Especially the marketing of silver as color and not as the actual metal. All the silver in my work is sterling silver .925 or fine silver .999.