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Julie Jerman-Melka and Jeffrey Melka

Finding endless inspiration along the shores of Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula to create what you see below, and the expanded collection you will see when visiting our booth at a show.

Have many new pieces for 2024, including what you see here.  Of course the best way to see the entire collection is to visit us at one of the many shows we do each year, or one of the galleries on the Gallery List below.

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This page shows a few examples of what we do.  

Earrings start at $45 and go up to $295.

Necklaces start at $65 and go up to $2400 for the piece in the middle of the page. 

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New Arrivals
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ABOUT US

     We are a wife and husband team located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in a very small community in the Keweenaw Peninsula, very remote and beautiful, and inspirational for the work you see on these pages.

     Julie has been a metalsmith and jewelry designer for her entire career.  Many years were spent in Colorado, where the metalsmithing skills were honed and fine tuned, and where Julie also earned her M.F.A.in metalsmithing and jewelry design at Colorado State University.  This allowed her to teach her love of the medium on a college level which she did for many years, while slowly building her own business: Flying Anvil Designs.

     I was always the back of the house assistant, and in 2007 joined as a full time business partner, which was an easy transition as we've been life partners for approximately 35 years now.   

     Julie is and will always be the main design force for all of the pieces in the collection, which we call the Gentle Current Series, because it utilizes basalt beach stones that we collect on our almost daily walks along the shores of Lake Superior.  All the meticulous metalwork, stone setting and finishing work are done by her.

     My focus on the business is drilling and coring the stones, and mostly doing what I refer to as "the necessary evil", all back of the house business tasks that are part of running any business.  Thank goodness for that often under utilized accounting degree.

     We relocated back to the Upper Peninsula eight years ago and feel very fortunate to live in the area where we were both born and raised.  Each day and season brings its own unique inspiration and outdoor recreation that we love:  Paddleboarding and sculling in the summer, hiking in the incredible fall colors, cross country skiing in our famously long winters, and looking forward to spring and the cycle starting over, all the while creating new pieces for the line.

                             Julie and Jeffrey

    

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About

Shows and Galleries

Shows/Galleries

 

2024 Show Schedule

     Remainder of 2024

October 5-6

Cottonwood Art Festival

Richardson, Texas

Booth  Da Vinci Row #213

Link to show

December 6-8

Winterfair

Columbus, Ohio

Booth # TBA

Link to show

 

 

Will be posting shows for 2025 as jury results start coming in, sometime in the fall.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

      

  

    

  

  

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

California:          

Artisana                                  

146 North Mail Street

Sebastopol, CA  95472

707-829-3036 

artisanafunctionalart.com

Colorado

Balefire Goods

7513 Grandview Avenue

Arvada, CO  80002

720-479-8434

balefiregoods.com

Florida:               

Brenda McMahon Gallery        

2901 Beach Blvd South #104

Gulfport, FL  33707

518-692-7742            

BrendaMcMahonGallery.com

Massachusetts:

London Ventures Company

2 Dock Square

Rockport, MA  01966

978-546-7161

Michigan:

 

J Petter Galleries

161 Blue Star Highway

PO Box 0680

Douglas, MI  49406-0680

289-527-2230

jpettergalleries.com   

Graci Gallery                     

110 North Third Street

Marquette, MI  49855

920-931-4248           

gracigallery.com

Wisconsin:

Bell Street Gallery

107 Manypenny Avenue

Bayfield, WI  54814

Open Year Round

Bell Street Gallery

807 Bell Street

La Pointe, WI  54850

(on Madeline Island in the beautiful Apostle Islands)

Open May-October

715-747-2092

bellstgallery.com

Cappaert Contemporary Gallery

7901 State Highway 42

Egg Harbor, WI  54209

920-868-3987

(Open May 1-October 31)

cappaertcontemporary.com

           

      

Galleries

CONTACT

Email:  flyinganvildesigns@earthlink.net

Cell: 970-310-4904

Land Line, yup still have one: 906-934-2372

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