Life & Work with Danielle LoMonaco

Today we’d like to introduce you to Danielle LoMonaco.

Hi Danielle, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My love of Nature and Art began early. I was the kind of girl who always came home with treasures: pretty rocks, fall leaves, flowers, salamanders, and lightning bugs.

I was a tomboy who loved climbing trees, hiking in the woods, and playing in the dirt. In school, my favorite class was always art. I enjoyed drawing and painting and making things with my hands. While I was frequently reminded that it wasn’t a practical choice, I knew in my heart that more than anything, I wanted to be an artist.

My journey to becoming an artist has been a long one full of twists and turns, and obstacles to overcome. At age 20, I gave birth to my son and quickly learned I’d be raising him as a single mother. I knew in order to provide the kind of life I wanted for my son, I would need to choose a practical career with a steady paycheck.

I applied and was accepted into a Radiologic Technologist program, and after two exhausting years of classes, clinical, and working 2 jobs to afford daycare and basic necessities for myself and my son, I sat for the national registry exam.

I passed, becoming a registered R.T., and had multiple job offers to wait for me. For the next 15 years, I worked in the medical field, first as an x-ray tech and later as an MRI technologist. While I enjoyed helping my patients, I often felt depressed and unfulfilled.

I began making beaded jewelry as a hobby and creative outlet. I’d spend countless joy-filled hours in bead shops putting together color combinations of natural stones for necklaces, bracelets, and earrings. As I could afford to, I began taking classes in mixed metals, cold connections, soldering, and enameling.

As my skills and tool collection grew, I made the decision to turn my dining room into a studio space where I would work happily in the evenings after my son went to bed.

I started selling my beaded jewelry to family members and friends, on Facebook, and at art festivals and craft shows. I found myself thinking about stones and jewelry all the time, and dreaming about the day I could become a full-time jewelry artist. My plan was to wait until my son left for college.

Then I got sick, really sick. I was becoming increasingly short of breath, rapidly losing weight, developing rashes and sores on my skin, and my hair was falling out. I went to several doctors before finally seeing an allergist who suspected my symptoms were related to toxic mold exposure. I had noticed mold growing on the walls of the MRI suite where I worked and had reported it months earlier to the management but nothing had been done.

As the severity of my symptoms worsened, I continued to voice my concerns. The mold spread quickly and by the time it covered the back wall of the MRI suite, I was unable to walk even short distances without getting winded and I was coughing up blood. At this point, my doctor said it was no longer safe for me to work at this facility. He started me on several medications to improve my lung function and sent me to pulmonary specialists and cardiopulmonary rehab.

While I was out on medical leave, the management had a thorough inspection done. It was discovered that mold was growing in the space between the walls, in the air ducts, and inside the air conditioning unit, in addition to the MRI suite and my office. A leaky roof, a neighboring unfinished surgical suite with dirt floors and no insulation, and HVAC ductwork that had been installed incorrectly and was collecting rainwater were to blame.

A mold mediation team was brought in to remove the contaminated building materials. Away from the source of the mold exposure and with the right combination of medication and physical therapy, my condition slowly improved. However, my doctors couldn’t tell me if my lung function would ever return to normal and suggested I try to find a desk job as I was still too weak to move patients or the cumbersome MRI equipment.

Being so sick made me realize that none of us are guaranteed a later. As scared as I was to leave the security of my career in medicine, I ultimately decided I was more afraid of not taking a chance on my dream than I was of failure. So, I gathered up some of my jewelry pieces, and between doctor appointments and cardiopulmonary therapy, I visited jewelry stores in my community looking for someone willing to take a chance on me.

One jewelry store owner told me about Tidwell Jewelers in Johnston, SC, and suggested I speak to the owner and master jeweler there. I made the 45-minute drive to visit Tidwell Jewelers and introduced myself. The workshop was a wonderland, filled with state-of-the-art equipment, laser welders, microscopes, and workbenches filled with tools! I volunteered to work for free if they would be willing to train me.

The owner liked my enthusiasm and thought I had potential so I began working part-time. At first, I helped by polishing jewelry, then I was taught to use the laser welder to repair broken chains. Next, I learned how to size rings and the process of lost wax casting. After a few months, a bench jeweler position became available and I was offered a full-time paid position.

I was beyond thrilled! Working closely with the master jeweler, I quickly expanded my skill set, learning stone setting and advanced jewelry repair. I also discovered I had a knack for redesigning the unworn jewelry the store’s customers owned into new pieces they loved.

While I enjoyed the fine jewelry type of work I doing at Tidwell’s, after work and on my days off I spent my time making silver jewelry with the beautiful jaspers, agates, and turquoise stones I had always loved. In my home studio, I focused on hand-fabrication, starting with thick silver sheets and wire and building each piece from the ground up.

I enjoyed the challenge of handcrafting jewelry and felt a deep satisfaction and pride when I finished a piece. For seven more years I continued on this way, being a fine jeweler by day and a silversmith by night. After my son left for college, I sold our house in Georgia and moved into a 600 sq. ft. studio apartment closer to the jewelry store in Johnston.

I used a portion of the profit I made from selling my house to pay off my debt, help pay for my son’s first two years of college, and to purchase more tools and equipment for my home studio. Then came Covid-19 and a statewide shutdown. Suddenly stuck at home, I began spending every waking moment making jewelry in my home studio. It was the happiest time of my life! Within weeks I had created a large collection of one-of-a-kind pieces and began selling them online.

To my surprise, I sold them ALL! When the shutdown was lifted and I returned to work I had standing orders to fill. Encouraged by my initial success and with my friends in the art community cheering me on, I approached a gallery in downtown Aiken, South Carolina named Art & Soul, which started carrying my jewelry line.

My jewelry was selling faster than I could make it while working full-time at the jewelry store, so I decided to approach the store’s owner and ask to have my hours cut back to part-time. I was told that wasn’t an option. They needed my full-time commitment. Around this time, I was presented with an opportunity to rent studio space in the gallery that was carrying my jewelry.

I was faced with a difficult decision: to stay full-time at the jewelry store, or put in my notice to pursue my dream of becoming a full-time working artist. I wrestled with the decision for months but ultimately decided that I had to take the chance or spend a lifetime regretting it. I informed the jewelry store of my decision and offered to stay on through the busy Christmas season and then work part-time until they could hire another stone setter.

In January the Master jeweler informed me they had decided they no longer needed my help. With the support of my friends and family, I moved into my new studio space within the gallery and with a mix of excitement and anxiety, I began my adventure as a full-time artist.

Although full of hard work and challenges, my first year in business was pure magic! I had the honor of making some very special pieces of jewelry, including my sister’s engagement ring! I also made an engagement ring for a long-time friend to give his fiancée, and a ring to celebrate a young woman graduating from college. I got to make birthday presents, anniversary presents, and pieces for women who were choosing to celebrate and treat themselves.

I even designed and made jewelry to commemorate beloved pets. Over the course of that year, I had my first solo show in Augusta, GA, and had my jewelry line picked up by 3 additional art galleries: Aiken Center for the Arts in Aiken, Art on Broad in Augusta, GA, and 4P Studios in Martinez, GA.

During the summer, I spent a week in Colorado attending a workshop with one of my favorite jewelers, Michael Boyd learning new lapidary (stone cutting) skills. While there I purchased the necessary equipment to start cutting and polishing my own stones from rough rock. Then my jewelry “shero”, Pamela Huizenga, gifted me some of the most beautiful rock material I had ever seen to cut and use in my pieces.

Now in my second year, I’ve moved my studio into a larger space to expand the services I am able to offer my customers. I am staying busy with private commissions, custom work, and repairs, as well as doing contract work for local jewelry stores, and working on exciting, new pieces for my jewelry line!

I’ve also recently had the honor of having my work accepted into the South Carolina Artisan Center in Walterboro, SC. In the fall, I will be having my second solo show in Augusta, and in December the Aiken Center for the Arts will be hosting an exhibition of my work where I plan to reveal a collection of pieces featuring a stone native to the area, Savannah River Agate.

Looking forward, I plan to focus on work that will combine my diamond setting skills with my fabrication and lapidary skills; mixing high-quality Turquoise, earthy natural stones, rare stone specimens, fossils, and agatized dinosaurs bone with gold, diamonds, and faceted colored stones. I am excited to see what the future holds!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I think the biggest obstacles I’ve had to overcome were my fear and guilt about taking risks as a single mother to pursue my dream of becoming a full-time artist.

I also struggled with self-doubt and insecurity about my lack of knowledge when it came to business, marketing, and social media.

AND I started my art business during a pandemic, a time that was full of uncertainty!

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Exceptional Stones, Inspired Designs, Quality Craftsmanship

My jewelry starts with exceptional hand-cut and polished genuine stones from the most talented and reputable independent lapidary artists in the country. I choose the stones I work with carefully based on their natural beauty, quality, and unique patterns and colors. Some of my pieces feature stones I have cut and polished myself from rough rock specimens in my studio.

Rare stones, including those that come from mines that have long been closed, are of particular interest to me. You will also find dinosaur bone, fossilized ancient sea life, and hard-to-find varieties of petrified wood in my work.

Using these outstanding stones as inspiration, I design to celebrate their unique characteristics. My goal is to complement but not overpower the stones in my work, and to create something beautiful, comfortable, and made to last for years to come! It is my belief that Nature is the ultimate artist, and my job is to create a custom, wearable frame worthy of her artwork.

With my background as a traditionally trained fine jeweler, I bring the same techniques and high-quality standards to my silver work. All of my stone necklaces, bracelets, and rings are one-of-a-kind and completely hand-fabricated from heavy sheets of sterling silver and silver wire.

It is labor-intensive work, often taking many hours or days to complete a single jewelry piece, but it is work that I love.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
An important lesson I have learned through my crazy journey to become a full-time artist is that there is almost always something amazing waiting for you just on the other side of fear, so choose to live courageously!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @daniellelomonacojewelry
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanielleLoMonacoJewelry

Image Credits
Alexandréa Johnson of Love, Ali Studios