the studio
BEHIND THE FLAME
We’ve been blurring lines and breaking molds - literally and figuratively - by turning fashion conventions upside down for decades.
Founded in 1979 the late Lee Brevard, we have remained true to its core as a working artisan studio, where craft is the soul of the work. Using old school techniques and a reverence for materials and the fire that shapes them, the jewelry we create constantly pushes the boundaries of culture, fashion, art, and design, resulting in a decades-long legacy of seeming contradictions.
An over-the-top, off-beat and one-of-a-kind collection of drag jewelry came first which broke the rules by blending precious and found materials with exquisite craftsmanship setting the tone of what was to come. By the mid 70s, our single mix ‘n match earring concept defied fashion norms, forged new paths and officially opened the studio doors. Blending old-school techniques in a union of opposites, our creative process merges with a refined discipline to make mayhem that’s greater than the sum of its parts. Measured. Chaotic. Our craft is an intimate dance with fire that requires full surrender to the task once the flame is lit.
Designs evolve organically, like buried treasure waiting to be excavated. Each piece is a discovery. Each piece offers a lexicon that tells a story and connects us to something greater than ourselves. Creating jewelry is a journey of mechanical repetition and constant reinvention and revelation.
Raw and elegant. Modern and timeless. Ours is a history of redefining what is possible.
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WHO WE ARE
Lee Brevard
Armed with a M.F.A. in painting from Cooper Union, Lee immersed himself in the creative counterculture of New York with Warhol's "Silver Factory" at the heart of it all. An early pioneer using the novel color copier - which was radically new technology in 1973 - to create hand altered limited edition art prints. Lee's insatiable obsession with emeralds became the focus of all his artistic explorations: from crushing precious stones into his paint pigments to tossing rare gems inside mouth-blown molten glass sculptural forms. Unconventional and untrained, Lee’s approach to crafting jewelry blurred the line between the absurd and the exquisite, combining found materials, precious stones, and fine metals to reclaim symbols of authority and power while infusing the designs with the captivating touch of the creative chaos.
Bryan Moss
Bryan did the journeyman thing, interning in a sculpture casting studio throughout high school, where he went from casting bigger than life sized sculptures to becoming a master caster for Van Cleef and Arpels by his early 20s while playing accordion in punk bands all across Los Angeles. Around that same time, Bryan was invited to join the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) to develop their casting and manufacturing curriculum, while operating his own design and fabrication studio. It was a former student that first introduced Lee and Bryan, and not long after they merged the two studios into one, breaking design barriers together until Lee's passing in 1994. At 28, Bryan became the lead creative, preserving Lee's legacy while infusing the original vision with his own rebellious spirit.
Dyan Dowling - aka: Dyn
Training under ceramists Jean Noble Parsons as a teenager opened the doors between the gallery and fashion where Dyan honed her craft. An unyielding passion for design sustainability lead to the “radical” notion of regional textiles in a fast fashion economy where Dyan became one of the founding members of the Fibershed non-profit, igniting a resurgence in regional textiles communities. Her upcycled mixed media textile contributions laid the foundation for the "Beyond Trend" runway and gallery shows with the internationally acclaimed Creative Growth studio. And a random conversation between strangers sparked a series of long-distance creative collaborations ultimately lead to joining the two studios to see where the mayhem might lead...
Tell your own story. And you will be interesting
More often than not, the paths we walk are not a straight line but at some point, all those experiences lead you to here, and how all those seemingly random stories intertwine is always interesting. More than anything, we have shared a bit of our stories to embrace your own.