Jewelry Designer

Mary Lee Peterson has enjoyed a lifetime love of the arts. She was an art major at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, attended the Minneapolis School of Art and Minneapolis Institute of Art, the Walker Art Center all in Minneapolis, MN, and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. She taught art as a volunteer art aide in the Fairfax County Public Schools when all the art teachers were victims of budget cuts. Mary Lee spent most of her working years managing a university research office and then a business management company for home decorators and designers. After retiring she yearned to fulfill and her creative side and began creating her original, unique jewelry designs. She was intrigued with the meta-physical properties of gemstones and began learning about them and applying them to her creations. Her jewelry utilizes precious and semi-precious gemstones and fine metals, such as Sterling silver, gold, brass, and copper and incorporates found objects, Swarovski crystrals, macrame, Viking wire knitting, wire wrapping, peyote-stitching and other techniques for each unique creation. In 2010 she opened her own jewelry business, My Gilded Lilywww.mygildedlily.com). When she was approached about helping create the Art Guild of Clifton, she jumped at the chance to work, exhibit, sell, and teach in one place close to home.  Mary Lee has been married for 46 years to her husband, Bob.  They have two children, both married, and three grandchildren, on whom they dote shamelessly.

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