Metals, jewelry student sees failure as chance to grow
Katelyn Butler’s ability to create inspiring work from raw materials has earned her numerous awards and scholarships, including her most recent $1,500 Society for Midwest Metalsmiths Merit Scholarship.
Seeing beyond the surface
Where another sees a hunk of metal, Butler finds a puzzle waiting to be solved; she sees potential in every bend and wrinkle. This “sight,” she said, is available to all of us if we’re willing to tap into it.
“Continually gathering visual information is something all people do, even if it’s subconscious. The answers are out there; all you have to do is train yourself to ‘see.’”
Passion taking shape
Finding those answers and testing her own abilities, Butler said, is what fuels her passion for metalsmithing. And her resulting success is palpable. She has been awarded more than $4,600 in two years and has shown work in more than 10 exhibitions, both nationally and internationally..
“I think I started being successful the moment I established the fact that I was going to fail, and that it would be a perfectly acceptable part of my learning,” she said. “I love pushing my own limits to see just how far I can take the material; I never like to play it safe.”
Butler, a metals and jewelry major and art history minor, is currently working full time to complete her senior show. After graduating in May 2015, she said she hopes to continue on to graduate school.
Recent work’s accolades
Two-finger ring
Materials: silver, gold, blue chalcedony
Methods: granulated, die formed, fabricated
Prizes won: $500 Materials: Hard and Soft Juror Award in 2015 from National Contemporary Craft Competition & Exhibition; $1,500 Designer and Creator Scholarship in 2015 from Women’s Jewelry Association; and the 2014 SNAG student scholarship to attend its annual conference
Lidded Vessel
Materials: copper, silver, enamel, pearl
Methods: raised, chased, repoussed, fabricated, enameled
Prizes won: 11th International Juried Student Enamel Exhibition
Necklace
Materials: copper, silver, enamel, cord
Methods: folded, die formed, forged, enameled
Prizes won: $100 “Fresh Air” Open Juried Competition in 2014; 2014 “We Are SNAG: Identity,” juried exhibit (the only current undergraduate student featured)