Meet Your Jewelry Design Mentors

Haley Mindes first began her fascination with jewelry making when she learned how to macrame bracelets at summer camp. Originally from New York, Haley received a B.F.A from Hartford Art School in CT and studied jewelry making in Florence, Italy. After graduating Haley moved to back to NYC where she worked as a graphic designer and took metalsmithing classes in the evening.

After combining her graphic design and metalsmithing skills together; a small business was launched by creating a photo charm line in which images were placed in different gold and silver settings. Due to the popularity of the collection and the placing of an ad in the back of a children's magazine, Haley began to wholesale the collection to specialty boutiques across the country and overseas.

Currently Haley is teaching jewelry making as the student advisor at the New York Institute of Art & Design and sells her work through www.haleym.com.

Kari Auerbach first discovered her love for jewelry making by creating pieces out of empty small perfume glass sample bottles. She filled them with beads and figured out how to attach them to earrings and chains and people started buying them up. This inspired her to take a few classes at F.I.T and Parsons School of Design. Kari honed her skills with on the job training while working for other jewelry designers.

With a vast array of work experience under her belt (working as a model maker, a jewelry designer for a cruise line, a creator of metal logo tags and even designer of tiaras), she eventually began selling her own designs to boutiques. Along with a couple of friends Kari opened a women's artist co-op shop on 9th St. in downtown NY called Mayhem. There she sold her edgy romantic designs referred to as the Hells Cherub collection. Now she keeps busy nurturing the talent of budding NYIAD designers while raising her son here in New York City.

Serena Van Rensselaer's intrigue with jewelry began as a young girl when she used to visit her grandmother and her namesake, Serena. The elder Serena was an extremely talented painter who loved all forms of art. But it was her collection of jewelry that captivated Serena, for she had pieces from around the world and each piece had a story behind it.

Serena grew up in New Jersey and went on to study Art History and Cultural Anthropology before re-visiting her childhood passion of jewelry design in San Miguel D’Allende, Mexico. It was there that she took her first metal class and fell in love with the creative process. Serena worked, studied and traveled to Europe and the Caribbean, honing her skills as a metal smith.

Serena lived for years in St.Thomas & St. John where she co-owned a gallery. She loved living by the ocean and found the islands incredibly inspiring. In 1999, she moved to New York City and settled in the East Village. She thrived on the creative energy in NYC and opened a studio.

In 2007, she had a baby boy; Aziz Skyler who is her greatest joy and inspiration. She balances her time creating new jewelry collections, raising her son and teaching NYIAD Jewelry students.

Pam Bloom was always interested in art classes growing up. "As soon as I could drop math in high school and take different art classes instead I did,” recalls the artist, who majored in metals while attending college at Parsons School of Design. “I love creating things with my hands and choosing a material to hone in on made sense. It was both fine arts and jewelry making.”

After graduating from Parsons, Pam found work as a bench jeweler for 2 different designers before starting her own jewelry line. She has been designing and selling her own jewelry ever since. Throughout the years Pam has also shared her wisdom and passion for jewelry making by teaching others. “Traveling, exploring, observing, researching, my mind is always working,” she explains.

A mother to three spirited sons, Bloom says she creates from “the heart and soul” and draws inspiration for her one-of-a-kind necklaces, bracelets, and earrings from all facets of her life. Pam is currently selling her work wholesale to boutiques and direct through her website www.pamelabloomjewelry.com.

Want to learn more? The New York Institute of Art and Design offers online jewelry design courses that can teach you how to create and sell your own unique line of jewelry. Request your free course catalog today!