Meet the Artists: Alan Hartig & Patricia Santhuff, the husband and wife jewelry design team who are Be*Jeweled, are late blooming artists. Patricia learned jewelry making techniques in the early 90s, and taught Alan in late winter 2006, upon his semi-retirement. He immediately demonstrated enough talent, aptitude and passion that they took a class in lampwork beadmaking together and began selling their work by summer (2006). We use semi-precious gemstones (including freshwater pearls), our own handmade lampwork beads, and findings and other components of sterling, copper, gold-filled or vermeil, along with other quality materials for our mostly one-of-a-kind creations.
We also work collaboratively, sharing design credits on a number of our creations. Both of us create extremely wearable, enduring (as opposed to faddish), one of a kind or extremely limited edition jewelry for the mature and somewhat sophisticated woman -- and for men, and teens too. This year we have been especially inspired by the incredible array of freshwater pearls on the market, and find they add an aura of lush beauty and a sensual richness nothing else can. Originally from Cattaraugus, New York, with a degree in Forestry from Syracuse University, Alan spent a lifetime in the food service industry and had no previous art training. Patricia’s inner artist has always leaked out here and there over the course of her varied career, and she finally took graphic design training in the early 1990s and worked for several years as a self-employed graphic designer. She graduated from Troy State University at Ft. Rucker in 1975 with a degree in English. A selection of their work was on exhibit this past late winter at Cowart Art Gallery in Villa Rica, Georgia. They were also selected for Art on the Lake in Guntersville, Alabama, in April, Powers Crossroads, the Birmingham Art Walk in September, Christmas House at historic Mable House this December, and a number of other juried arts and crafts shows. They were the featured Artists of the Month for October 2007 at their hometown Warren P. Sewell Library in Bremen, Georgia, and are members of the Douglas County Art Guild and the South Cobb Arts Alliance.
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Alan finds much of his inspiration in nature, including the stones themselves, as well as his lifetime of memories: “Whether a sunrise in the Oregon high desert, the ocean smells of Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, the sounds of the 1976 Bicentennial at the base of the St. Louis Arch, or a summer evening walk along the East River under the Brooklyn Bridge, these experiences and many more serve as the beginnings of a creative process that, for me, ends in a new and personally significant work of art.”
Patricia, in contrast, finds herself more immediately stimulated and inspired by everyday life and her environment, especially the use or occurrence of color. “I love observing, even scrutinizing, everything in my path. So I might be out on errands and notice someone’s clothing in an arresting colorway, or see a shock of vibrant color in a landscape planting, or even the most mundane of urban scenes involving lime traffic cones against black asphalt, and I’ll rush home to capture what I saw in lampwork beads or a piece of jewelry. I love color – and flowers – and find they serve as my primary inspiration.” 
Alan’s creations strongly evoke nature and often involve earthtones and greens, whereas Patricia’s work tends more toward the classical and elegant, or sometimes decidedly funky.