Dawn Vertrees

South Iredell High School

Class of 1978

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Dawn Vertrees - Class of 1978 - South Iredell High School

First Name	Dawn
Last Name	Vertrees
Graduation Year	Class of 1978
Gender	Female
Current Location	Cornelius, North Carolina
Hometown	Cornelius, North Carolina
Relationship Status	Married
About Me	Jewelry Designer, Lost Wax Artist as well as a very proud grandmother!!! Dawn Vertrees Jewelry Designer Biography Born and raised in North Carolina, I was surrounded by artistic talent from an early age. My father, Hugh Whisnant, was an extremely talented and accomplished artist as well as a brilliant engineer…all self taught. I guess you could say it was in his genes. His artwork has been displayed in prominent public buildings throughout the South, including the Baltimore Zoo. He instilled in me a deep appreciation for nature, color, form, and perspective…things that would stay with me the rest of my life. At age 19, I began working in the family business, Mobilite Exhibit Systems. We designed and manufactured trade show exhibits for a national and international client base. During the 20 or so years I spent working for Mobilite, I learned many new skills, some of which are worth mentioning here. I was taught everything from silk-screening, sign painting, to vacuum forming. I was an early adapter of the Gerber Signmaker, the fist computer controlled vinyl graphics cutting machine. At the peak of my career at Mobilite I was named National Sales Manager, which meant that I spent a lot of time on the road, managing 45 distributors throughout the United States. In 1991, looking for a diversion from the stressful life I was leading, I started working with ceramics. I found that I had a talent for sculpting 3 dimensional flowers and leaves that I used to decorate picture frames, sugar bowls, lamp bases, and candle holders. My work was even featured in several magazines. As much as I enjoyed my time working with ceramics, it had to remain a part time hobby due to my busy work schedule. It was the fallout of 9/11/2001 that convinced me it was time to leave the stressful life of the trade show exhibit business, and pursue my love of sculpting full time. I started with what I knew, decorating vases and picture frames with sculpted flowers and leaves. But soon that evolved into ceramic jewelry. I found a particular market for porcelain orchid pendants which I fired with colorful glazes. I worked for a while with ArtClay Overlay Paste, which I used to coat my porcelain pieces. This technique allowed me to produce pieces that looked like they were solid fine silver, although they were actually only “plated” porcelain. I began to develop my little orchid line to include calla lilies as well as other flowers. I entered a few contests and won a few awards! I was pleased with my limited success, but I wanted more. In my quest for something better, I happened upon a master jeweler, Volker Kracht. He expressed an immediate appreciation for my current work and offered his expertise in helping me to further develop my jewelry line. I have to tell you, he opened my eyes to a whole new world…the world of Lost Wax! With Volker’s expert instruction, I’ve now learned to sculpt my jewelry designs in wax, then cast them in precious metals , retaining all the detail and personality of my design, yet durable enough to last a lifetime. This also opened the door for many designs that just weren’t practical in porcelain. Rings, bracelets and earrings, can now be made with delicate detail and without fear of breaking! I wake up every morning with renewed excitement for what I’m going to create. Through the lost wax process and my newly defined style, I’ve f...(read more)