Artisan LA Hosts a Party for its New Designers

Artisan LA held an intimate party to introduce folks to the new designers currently featured in the boutique. If you’re a jewelry aficionado you owe it to yourself to pay this cozy shop, located in the heart of Los Feliz, a visit. Owner Julio Benez has quite a good eye and he’s curated quite a vast selection of handcrafted custom artisan jewelry. The store mainly features up-an-coming local designers in addition to a few handpicked artists from around the country.

Not only is Julio a delightful individual, but he’s also a talented designer as well. His creations are inspired by the diverse nature of his native country, Brazil, and architectural shapes. He also specializes in custom wedding bands.



A few of the artists attended the party. One of which was Christi Schimpke. For her Minabea line, Christi uses a combination of techniques (including hand fabrication and wire crochet) to make custom pieces using precious metals and semi-precious gemstones.



Jennifer Dermer of Casalinda creates eco-friendly silver jewelry using recycled, reclaimed, and vintage precious metals, stones, and pearls.

Eissa Designs creator Mary Ann Eissa crafts jewelry out of silver, gold, and vintage brass utilizing metalsmithing techniques and often finishes pieces with gemstones. I really loved her textured silver rings.

Joan Russell the brains behind Pop Culture Princess makes upcycled jewelry and accessories out of materials that would normally clog our landfills. PCP has several lines; however, Artisan LA carries the upcycled CD collection. (Yup, jewelry made from CD’s). A majority of the pieces are reversible, some are embellished with beads, rhinestones, semi-precious stones, or Swarovski crystals and each one is a one-of-a-kind creation.

If you are looking for original handmade jewelry Artisan LA is your one stop shop. This store carries something for everyone, and you could spend hours just browsing through the eclectic collection. For more information on the designers featured at Artisan LA visit: www.artisanla.com The shop is located at 4649 Russell Ave. (Just off Vermont) L.A. CA. 90027

Narrative and photos by Nikki Neil