My name is Amy Okubo. I am trained as a lawyer. In 2011, I left a full time job that I had held for eighteen years as a criminal prosecutor. I learned how to bead and began making jewelry with plated sterling silver wire and gemstones. Creativity I never knew I had flowed out of me like a rushing river and people actually bought what I was making!
I continued to work with beading and, in 2013, I moved back to practicing law part time as a criminal defense attorney. In 2018, I took my first silver smithing class. It was a natural extension and a leveling up from my beaded jewelry work. As you can guess, it was love at first pounding of some silver! After 6 months of classes I began setting up my own studio.
In 2021, I began a slow process of retiring from the practice of law. It is hard to let go of a 30+ year career, but metal smithing has allowed me to transition into a completely different arena and feel excited about the future. I continue to take metal smithing classes on specific techniques and skills (shout out to Boulder Metalsmithing Association--www.bouldermetalsmiths.com) and buy more stones than I can ever set!
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Amy is an absolute artisan! She hand made my wedding ring out of copper, since I own a distillery, and placed champagne diamonds in to make it perfect!