Zoe de Negri has been a jewelry maker since the mid 1960s. Born in England, Zoe was raised by her mother, Eve de Negri, to appreciate abstracts in art and design from around the world. Zoe's mother taught in London at the Saint Martin's fashion school for dress designs. Later, following an interest to move to Nigeria, West Africa, the two lived in the bush country much like the portrayal of the themed "Out of Africa" movie.

In Nigeria, Zoe attended the University of Lagos (1965-1968) and received her BA with Honors in African History and French Literature. Many of the cultural details of the African native arts became the foundation for the jewelry design concepts Zoe uses today.

Eve and Zoe moved to New York City where she stayed in the Village area and continued her studies. In 1971 she attended the Cooper Square Crafts School to learn the art of metal crafting techniques. Zoe began shaping metal to newly inspired art wear, embedding colorful beadwork and details that unfolded into a lucky venture. With a couple dozen pieces from her collection she stumbled into the famous Henri Bendel's department store without any expectations. Much to her surprise the department store took all of her collection and continued to order more. Ultimately other stores, including Bloomingdales, became regular buyers of her work during the 70s.

After six years in New York City, Zoe opened a studio in Minneapolis and built up a small business while training others in her craft, and even ventured into a high-paced retail storefront environment. Between the vast array of business ventures and thirteen cold winters, Zoe began looking for signs to make a change in her life, and she became convinced that a move to New Mexico was in her future.

She began her New Mexican lifestyle in 1989 near Taos in a small community called Truchas, and stayed there for two years before a move to the Cloudcroft area (while toting 8 dogs, 2 cats, 2 donkeys, 2 miniature horses and 4 angora goats). Now Zoe lives in the mountainous and serene area of Ruidoso in a true adobe block home on the Bonito River. She has long since given away her livestock collection and only feeds three dogs.

Zoe continues to refine her craft of jewelry making and attends shows, both to the wholesale and retail trade nationally. She travels frequently throughout the year and collects gemstones for her unique one-of-a-kind creations.

She works with many metals, overlaying them to create refined works of artwear in jewelry pieces. Earrings, necklaces, pendants and lapel pins are all distinctive parts of her ever-growing, ever-changing collection. Many of her pieces include the mixed uses of gemstones, semi-precious and rare beads and pearls.

Zoe works independently now and has done so for many years to produce the exclusive creations and limited editions for her clients. While many of her pieces are displayed in national franchises where they are patterned to a certain criteria, the most fabulous works are the individual designs she reserves for her clientele following. Each piece of jewelry is hand fabricated (not cast). No two pieces are exactly alike. And her collection of many works includes symbolically shaped jewelry with stones reputed to have healing properties and energy.

Owning a piece of jewelry by Zoe de Negri will not only be a delight to wear, but will also be an addition to your artwear collection.

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