John Leonard is a Bay Area native, born in San Francisco in another century. He came to making jewelry as the fulfillment of a life long dream that got side tracked by following some other more traveled roads.

As midlife transition came upon him he decided it was time to live the dream or give it up. As owner and designer at John Leonard Studio, John has been living that dream since 1996.

Organic Asymmetry

My jewelry is my effort to combine the feelings and forces of two very different eras of 20^th century jewelry making: Art Nouveau and the Modernism of the Studio Jewelry of the 1940's, 50's and 60's. The work lies in balancing the organic flow of Art Nouveau with the asymmetry of the Studio Jewelry. The fun lies in achieving that balance where the natural forms meld with the tension created by the asymmetry.

It also represents an attempt to balance such things as aesthetic design with mechanical design, smooth surfaces with textures, straight lines with curves, stones with metal, weight with size, and color with light. 

Ultimately, making jewelry is my way of balancing my masculine and feminine, right and left brain, and my heart with my head.  It is my attempt to express outwardly what I only experience inwardly.

Flowing Gold/Flowing Silver

This body of work evolved from my attempts to create the feeling of motion in a piece of "flat", static, metal.  Inspired by natural shapes, the human form, and flowing water, I continue to    experiment with different forms to see what shapes can be created. With each attempt, I have gotten closer to the effect I want by varying the shapes, thickness and the mechanics of the process.  Adding precious and semiprecious stones has created a focal point in the pieces and added some contrast for visual appeal.