MY STORY
THE CREATOR
Welcome! My name is Gretchen Baneyx and I'm the creative force behind Bespoken Jewelry. Making jewelry began as a 'therapy' for my day job life as a research scientist, but it bloomed into a grand passion that took over my life in amazing ways.
To be fair, art was my first love. I was the kid you could give some paper and crayons, stick me in a corner, and leave for hours happily drawing away. As I grew older I discovered a talent for math and science. At the time, being an artist wasn't valued in my family (or culture) since "you can't make money doing it". So I made a detour away from art.
I earned a degree in Chemical Engineering and then a PhD in Bioengineering -- just to frost the 'achievement cake'. Even as a scientist I found ways to satisfy my artistic itch through imaging cells and tissue via fluorescence microscopy. The colors and forms were beautiful and fascinating! I spent entire days taking and analyzing images in the dark, much happier to be there than out in the sun doing whatever sunny people do.
After 20 years as a research scientist my lab moved out of state and I was out of a job. And NO ONE wanted to hire me. It's as if the Universe backed me into a corner and said "DO THE THING, ALREADY!" So Bespoken Jewelry was born. And here I am almost 15 years later still creating jewelry in my Seattle studio. I made it. I survived. I'm an artist!