Loretta Fontaine's parents knew they had an artistic child, when, at age 4, she entered a Mickey Mouse coloring contest with the outlines not just colored, but filled with stripes and polka dots. She went on to make her own sandals out of cardboard at 6, and a dress of duct tape for a college formal. Of course, she had to not only sew her own wedding dress, but bake the wedding cake!
.After receiving a Master's degree in Architecture, Loretta didn't last long in an office. "I was envious of the people working with the real materials - laying the concrete block and nailing the wood," she recalls, "I missed working with my hands." She left to start Loretta Fontaine Jewelry, creating artistic pieces in sterling silver and 14K gold combined with her own miniature original photography. "Taking a sketch and transforming it into a piece of jewelry is a thrill," she says, 'it's truly a dream job!"
Loretta received a 2004 New York State Council for the Arts grant to further study goldsmithing, and her jewelry is published by Lark Books in 1000 Rings: Inspiring Adornment For The Hand and the upcoming book 500 Bracelets and 500 Earrings. Magazines that have featured her work include Modern Jeweler, The Crafts Report, NICHE, and Lapidary Journal. Three pieces of her work were shown in the 2003 exhibition “Fine Crafts; Ancient Practices, New Visions: 60th Exhibition of Central New York Artists,” at the Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute in Utica, New York. The ring "July Ring" was on display in the 2004 exhibit “Rings,” at the Cannon Gallery of Art and Design in Raleigh, North Carolina. A writer and photographer, Loretta writes widely on the arts and pens a monthly column, "Loretta's Last Line" for The Crafts Report magazine and The Times Union. A faculty member of The Arts Business Institute, she presents at their workshops across the country. Loretta Fontaine lives in Albany, N.Y. with her husband and three cute kids.
