Paula Dawkins is the co-owner and the lead designer goldsmith at Jewels That Dance. Paula is renowned for her stunning, artistic designs and her innate ability to apply her myriad skills to each custom piece she designs, creating jewelry that embodies each customer’s unique aesthetic. Many praise her for making their jewelry dreams into breathtaking reality.
A graduate from Appalachian State University with a BA in psychology, Paula is a self-taught jeweler. After graduation she decided to try her hand at the newly emerging craft circuit. With a few dollars and a jeweler’s saw, she made some cut coin jewelry and her career began. Over the years, she has bolstered her abilities through attending courses at Penland School for the Arts, Hollands School for Jewelers and most recently Gemvision for CAD training. She has also obtained her certification in diamond grading from the Gemological Institute of America.
Paula began wholesaling her first line of jewelry under her name in 1983, at the inception of the wholesale craft movement. She exhibited with the Jewelers of America, the American Craft Council and the Buyer’s Market of American Craft. At the peak of this part her career, Paula’s work was sold in over seventy-five national galleries. In 1993, the Jewelers of America recognized Paula as one of the top twelve new designers in the country and her work was featured in multiple trade publications.
In the late nineties, Paula chose to shift her focus from the wholesale market, opting instead to pour her creative energy into the growth of her store. Today, Jewels That Dance is a thriving, creative space and is an integral part of the tightly woven fabric that is the downtown Asheville small business community. Paula is to be found there most days, doing what she loves best: designing and creating exquisite pieces of jewelry.
If you can’t visit us in Asheville, feel free to contact Paula by e-mail at pauladawkins@jewelsthatdance.com
