I’ve been a jeweler for much of my adult life, and although it started with me gluing chunks of materials together (shout out to the first feather earring wave in 2005 lol), I felt a deeper pull to the craft of adornment. Following the creative call, I started exploring metalwork and lapidary work, slowly building my skills and experience over the years so that I could more artfully create the visions that I had in my mind. In 2010 I launched Gather Jewelry, which became a solid brand and business in my local community and online. In 2022, I retired Gather and I am continuing to make my hand-forged metal & stone jewelry under my own name. 

I live in the Sierra Nevada Foothills of Northern California and it is from this place that I find my inspiration—as well as some of my materials—like locally sourced minerals from the Yuba River. My designs are informed by a lifetime of fascination with ancient battle gear and weaponry, as well as all the stark magic found in the earth and all its kingdoms.

Your journey into jewelry began with simple creations—like the famous feather earrings —and evolved into sophisticated metalwork and lapidary. Can you tell us about that pivotal moment when you realized you wanted to deepen your craft and turn jewelry-making into a lifelong pursuit?

I don’t recall a pivotal moment because it’s been such a long, slow journey. I think a big part of it was that I was looking for a way to exit the 9-5 world and I was lucky enough to have the jewelry thing to help guide me out of the rat race. I’ve always had a very strong primal need to create things with my hands, so exploring the art of making adornments felt very obvious and natural to me. When I opened my first Etsy shop in 2008, right at the beginning of the recession, I was shocked to find out that I’d sold 2 pieces within the first 12 hours. I guess that’s when I realized it might be possible to make it work full-time. From there, I just slowly began picking up new skills and building my business into what it is today. I feel like I  just stumbled my way into it, but I’m so grateful that I did. It’s hard to imagine doing anything else for a living. 

After founding Gather Jewelry in 2010, you retired the brand in 2022 and now design under your own name. What prompted that transition, and how has it allowed you to explore your creativity in new ways?

I was burnt out and the name Gather was feeling old and stale to me. It was a name that was born of a particular era and by the time 2022 rolled around, Gather no longer felt fresh and inspiring. It kinda felt like a cage, so I made a somewhat impulsive decision to drop it. A lot of people told me it was a bad idea because I’d already built a solid brand under that name, so why fix it if it wasn’t broken? But that made me want to drop it even more(I’m an Aries and I despise being told what to do) and luckily, so far, it seems to be working out just fine. Although some people, including my mom, still occasionally accidentally refer to my business as Gather Jewelry. I don't mind though, it’s kind of sweet and funny to me. I decided to use my married name, Leora Coronel, for my business because I just really like the name and it feels energetically lighter and more expansive to me. I grew up hating my maiden name, so when I got married in 2013 and got to change my last name to Coronel, it felt relieving, like I was dropping dead weight. And that’s also how it felt when I changed my business name. 

The Sierra Nevada Foothills serve as both your home and your muse. How do the landscapes, natural materials (like locally sourced minerals from the Yuba River), and overall environment of Nevada City and Grass Valley shape your design process?

I love taking local natural materials that would ordinarily be looked over, like river rocks, and transforming them into elevated, wearable works of art. Some of my designs, like the Yuba Sunrise/Sunset series, are inspired by a particular sunrise that I watched at the Yuba River many years ago. Not only was this design inspired by the scenery at the Yuba River, it’s literally made from pieces of the Yuba River. 

In your bio, you mention a fascination with ancient battle gear and weaponry. How does that influence come through in your pieces, and do you see a connection between the rugged earth elements you use and these historical inspirations?

The battlegear and weaponry influence showed up a lot more in my earlier work(breastplates, shields, big metal cuffs etc..) but not quite as much in recent years. However, I still do make a lot of dagger-inspired pieces. I love cutting stones into shapes with sharp points.

Nevada City and Grass Valley are known for their thriving artisan communities, including many talented jewelers. What sets your work apart in such a vibrant, creative scene, and how have you carved out your own niche?

Early on, I think my work stood out because I used a lot of sharp, unexpected elements in my pieces. The ladies really seemed to respond well to that. I remember a lot of men joking about how they couldn’t hug their wives and female friends when they were wearing my work because they’d get stabbed. They often referred to my work as “intimidating”. I think a lot of women liked the fierce feel of the pieces..like they were wearing armor. I’ve also always had a habit of coming up with unique and unexpected stone combinations, and I think that helped my work stand out a bit. And then when I began cutting my own stones and making jewelry with locally sourced rocks, that was something I think a lot of people had never seen before. I also really enjoy making unique and personal custom pieces for people. Many years ago, I started offering custom memorial pieces that include ashes, hair or fur from a loved one that’s passed away. It’s an enormous honor to create these meaningful & deeply personal pieces for people, and not a lot of other jewelers that I know of offer this.

You’ve now taken on the role of teacher at Wolf Craft School. What drew you to teaching, and what’s your favorite part about guiding students through the art of jewelry-making?

I come from a long line of teachers. When I was a kid, I thought I wanted to be a teacher until I watched how hard my mom had it as a public school teacher. Then I was like, NO THANK YOU to teaching. But over the last 7 or 8 years, I’ve had many people request to learn from me. I did not feel qualified to teach anyone anything, because I never went to jewelry school or took any formal jewelry-making classes myself. I definitely suffer from some imposter syndrome, but it’s getting better as I get older. Anyhow - I eventually realized that teaching would be a great way to give back and share some of what I’ve learned over the last two decades. I also recall being very frustrated with the lack of accessible jewelry classes available to me in those early days, so I decided to try to become the teacher I was looking for when I was first attempting to get into this craft. So a couple of years ago, I started teaching private lessons in my tiny studio. Those have worked out well, but private lessons are relatively expensive, so they’re not accessible to a lot of people. Then last fall, I was introduced to Leslie, owner of Wolf Craft. Wolf Craft has provided the space and the funding for tools/equipment(not cheap!) needed to teach group classes..and here we are :) 

My favorite part of teaching people the art of jewelry-making is watching the emotional arc that they go through over the course of the class. There’s curiosity and excitement, nervousness and trepidation, frustration and disappointment, and it all usually ends with elation and wonder as they finish a brand new piece of jewelry that they made with their own two hands. It’s fun and satisfying to witness people go through it all. 

Jewelry can be deeply personal—both for the maker and the wearer. How do you balance your artistic vision with the desire to create pieces that resonate with a broad audience?

Oof, I don’t know…I just make what I think is cool and luckily other people seem to think it’s cool too.

Looking ahead, what do you hope students at Wolf Craft School will take away from your workshops, both creatively and personally? How do you see their growth feeding back into the local arts community in Nevada City and Grass Valley?

I haven’t really thought that far ahead. Right now I’m just happy that people are enjoying taking my workshops and classes.