Carly Wright has a BPA, (the equivalent of a BFA), from Empire State College, a university without walls program associated with the State University of New York. She also studied the art of enameling at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina where she was a scholarship student from 1980-84.My jewelry is inspired by the natural world. I am fascinated by cliffs revealing layers of sedimentary rock. I believe that the escarpments and old stone walls that I see on my daily walks, give me a vocabulary with which to work. I often stop to sketch, take a photo, or pick up an interesting stone. These small objects sit on my drawing table for weeks, sometimes years. When I sit down to design new pieces I look to them for inspiration. My travels to Ireland, Italy, France and England have also been a source of inspiration. I particularly love the old stone windows and doorways found in ancient ruins.
The creation of art begins for me as a journey into a intuitive and playful part of myself. My sketches are loose, fluid and fast, using drafting and colored pencils. Later, I return to these ideas, looking for interesting compositions and beautiful lines in the stones. I don’t consider myself to be a jewelry designer in the usual sense in that I don’t work with gems, elements and settings. Rather I work as a 2-D artist; my work is often described as painterly. I like to think of my works as small pieces of art to wear.
