Courtney Lipson '97

Artist and metal sculptor Courtney Lipson was first inspired by her mother. In Courtney’s words, her mother did this by “supplying me with all sorts of tools and materials, encouraging me toward artistic expression, and sometimes challenging my self-imposed boundaries.”

Courtney’s family has a long history of creating jewelry. Her grandfather was a classic jeweler, and her father continues to create jewelry for friends and relatives. It wasn’t until recently, however, that she connected to this family tradition. Courtney found that metalworking—specifically metal jewelry—is the medium that gives her the most freedom and creative drive. Independently, she now produces micro-mosaic jewelry in Bellingham, Washington.

Courtney has worked in the art world in one capacity or another since graduating from Lewis & Clark with a self-designed major in art administration. She began as an intern at the Elizabeth Leach Gallery in Portland, and from 1997 to 2003 she was the assistant director of Stonington Gallery in Seattle. She left Stonington to pursue her own work in micro-mosaic jewelry.

Since last year, Courtney’s art has been featured in exhibitions at a variety of venues: the Cashmere Museum Gift Shop in Cashmere, Washington; the Folk Tree Collection in Pasadena, California; the Stonington Gallery in Seattle; Whimsey in Bellingham, Washington; and the Nemo gallery in Anchorage, Alaska.

(Posted August 2005)