Wedding ring set. Sophie Lotstein, artist. Photo by Jane Sun
By Gina Malone
It took metal artist Sophie Lotstein more time than she would have liked to discover her chosen craft. “I can say, with a tinge of disappointment in myself, that I was never really drawn to art as a kid/young adult,” she says. “I tried drawing, painting, pottery and other art forms in high school and never really felt connected to any of them.”
Sophie Lotstein, artist. Photo by Lucy Clark
She had graduated from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, moved to Atlanta and then to Asheville before she discovered metalsmithing while working in a jewelry boutique. While there, she began to design some higher-end pieces including engagement rings. “I remember thinking, ‘This is crazy; I’m getting paid to make pretty things,’” she says. Meeting a master goldsmith and seeing his workshop hooked her. “I wanted to do what he did,” she says. “It seemed incredible to me that I could make engagement rings, or really any kind of ring, with my own two hands. So I took a basic metalsmithing course and the rest is, as they say, history.” It took several years before she felt she had developed a style truly her own.
That style derives partly out of a love for nature—in particular, the sun. “One of my favorite and, incidentally, most popular designs—that I named The Cleopatra—features hand-stamped ‘sun rays’ that burst from the stone,” she says. “It speaks to my nature as a lover of all things sunny.” She named her business Sun Sparrow Metalsmithing as a nod to this love of the sun, and of birds. “I’m deeply fascinated by birds and love to bird watch,” she adds, especially preferring sparrows as “ubiquitous, chirping, bouncy, cheerful little beings.”
Sophie Lotstein, artist
Minimalism is another feature of her designs, which she sees as jewelry that can be worn every day. “I strive to make high-quality products that I hope people will pass down to future generations,” she says. She works in sterling silver most often, but also in rose, white and yellow gold and in 14k gold fill, a high-quality material that “looks and wears like gold without the higher price tag.” There are no pre-fabrication pieces in her studio. “I make the entire piece by hand, start to finish,” says Lotstein.
“I always start crafting a piece around a gemstone,” she says. “I like to sit down at my desk and sift through my stones. From there, I curate a collection of jewelry based on the stones that are speaking to me in the moment.”
Sophie Lotstein, artist. Photo by Lucy Clark
Lotstein gets motivation and inspiration from her family and fiancé, from the natural beauty of the area and from clients. “I get a lot of good energy when I get feedback on what they like,” she says of those who wear her jewelry, “and it helps keep me active in my craft. I really like to know that the pieces I create are living a life out there, and that inspires me to make more.”
The COVID-19 shutdown in 2020 pushed her to begin creating full-time, to market herself more creatively and to participate in outdoor craft shows. “I have found that this craft is a gift in uncertain times,” she says. “I’m so lucky that I get to carve out a living from my home studio, where I get to be creative in a safe space. Sometimes it can feel a little isolated, and I’m sure most people know the feeling by now, feeling somewhat cut off from everyone else. But the remedy to that is to get outdoors and hike around and experience nature. I like to say that the Blue Ridge Mountains supply inspiration and beauty to my jewelry.”
To learn more about Sophie Lotstein’s work, visit SunSparrowMetalsmith.etsy.com or Instagram @_SunSparrow_. She provides monthly Shop Updates on Instagram for work newly available at her Etsy shop. Her work is also available at regional galleries including The Lucy Clark Gallery & Studio, in Brevard.
