Jenn Parnell

Jenn Parnell graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1999 with her BFA in Jewelry and Metalsmithing. Her work has been published in 1000 Rings and Art Jewelry Today, as well as being used for advertisements for national craft shows. Jenn has been Adjunct Faculty at the Corcoran College of Art + Design since 2004 and at the Maryland Institute College of Art since 2006 in their Jewelry Departments.

The two central elements in Jenn's work are the use of color and sculptural forms. She incorporates enamels into the overall vision of the jewelry, working the colors into the elements of the pieces as opposed to treating them as a gem to be set. Glass enamels are a time consuming material, with each piece requiring as little as 3, and as many as 15 separate firings in the kiln. However, there is no match for the clarity and intensity of color that true glass enamel produces.

Jenn likes to create jewelry that is creative, different, and fun, yet at the same time very contemporary. Jenn wants her pieces to be just as visually interesting and intriguing by themselves, in a sculptural sense, as when they are being worn.