Lesley Aine McKeown
The daughter of graduates from KC Institute of Art in Kansas (her father, a jeweler; her mother, a nationally recognized sculptor and jeweler), Lesley has been steeped in art and design from an early age. It was not until 1982 that the jewelry bug bit her. As an apprentice she learned traditional native American silversmithing techniques. In 1984, she launched her career as a jeweler and continues to crave the challenges of metal smithing. Each piece is created in her studio in the tradition of the American Studio Art Jewelry movement in the 1940’s through the ‘60’s, which demands that the work is created entirely in the artists studio. From drawing through fabrication, the piece never leaves her hands.