Michelle Hoting Jewelry Artist

My work is shaped by a lifelong connection to nature. Inspired by flowing water, curling waves and wind carved slot canyons, I design and hand fabricate jewelry that captures a sense of motion, balance, and dimensionality. Through wax and metal, sculptural forms emerge, translating fleeting moments of the environment into pieces that feel personal, tactile, and timeless.

Jewelry making has always felt like a calling. My grandfather founded the Gulf Coast Gem and Mineral Society, and family stories of rockhounding on the King Ranch sparked an early fascination with stones and the land that I still carry with me. In my work, I often cut and incorporate agates and other gemstones passed down, honoring both their inherent character and the history they hold.

While working toward my degree in Fine Arts and Geology at The University of Texas at Austin, a recommendation from my gemology professor led to a part-time position in a jewelry store, where watching master bench jewelers at work proved transformative. Whenever possible, I apprenticed at the bench, deepening my technical skills and strengthening my commitment to the craft.

Over the years, my career has spanned many facets of the jewelry world, from managing repair departments at prominent antique jewelry stores to studying diamond grading, colored stones, and pearls through the Gemological Institute of America. I've worked as a jeweler and salesperson for Cartier and managed a Bulgari boutique - experiences that refined my eye for craftsmanship, precision, and timeless design.

In 2012, I moved to santa Rosa, California, where I now work independently, creating jewelry that reflects a lifetime shaped by art, geology, and nature.  Each piece is an expression of that journey - thoughtful, sculptural, and rooted in the enduring elegance of the natural world.