I established Terra Wear in Austin, Texas in 1994 and it has been my sole occupation since. I grew up in the Dallas area and have lived in Austin since 1988. With my Bachelor's Degree from UT Austin in psychology, I was equipped for employment in the field of social work, which I did for several years. Bless the social workers, because that's work I don't want to do again. I began my current craft as many artisans do; as a hobby. I had never thought of myself as particularly artistic, so it was a beautiful and fulfilling surprise to be naturally good at something creative and functional.

I became interested in jewelry making because I seldom saw jewelry for sale that I would wear. There was always something, either seemingly insignificant or glaringly problematic, that I would change about the designs I saw. And most of those pieces were still unaffordable. The focus in my craft is to design simple pieces that are original and distinctive yet wearable, versatile, hardy and affordable.

I hand select most of the supplies I use. I am incredibly picky and I don't trust showrooms to send me the quality I require. I will try to meet custom requests wherever possible in honor of other people's right to be picky. I use sterling silver and 14K gold filled metals and fine German-manufactured stringing materials. Nothing plated here…and no fishing line!

If you actually read all of this biographical stuff, I thank you for your attention. I hope you enjoy shopping and I welcome any feedback you may have.

Thanks again.

Laura Krouse