Kirk Runyon, aka: Future Artifacts is a mesmerizing, talented, and ever-evolving Jewelry artist, a Divine Metalsmith stemming from the blossoming atmosphere and creative peak that is Austin, Texas. Following his intuition and paving the path of inner discovery, Kirk’s eyes fell to the love of his friend’s pendant in 2007. Soon after, Kirk began to craft his own jewelry! Touring during festival season opened many opportunities as he synchronized with fellow creators which screamed out “Possibility”. Intrigued by all of Kirk’s creations, I reached out to him to gather more of his visions and inspirations! Below, we feature 15 of his Jewelry creations and an exclusive interview where Kirk reveals his creative process, inspirations, goals, hobbies such as music and nature, patience, and creating high forms of art. Future Artifacts plans to expand creation through fabrication, wax carving, and high end fine jewelry.
“The whole process of making jewelry is very meditative for me. It has really taught me a lot about myself, and the ability to learn a deep level of patience.”
Tree collaboration :Reid North . Emerald, Opal x 2
I first found out about this art form back when I was in college. A really good friend of mine had a pendant that he had made out of silver wire and I thought it was the coolest thing I had ever seen. I was in love with his pendant so much that I asked him to make me one. After several months of me asking and waiting, my friend came over to my house and set to make the pendant myself. Naturally, I accepted the challenge and went for it. At first it seemed incredibly daunting , because I didn’t know where to start or what to do. At that point, I looked up various pendants on the internet to try and get some inspiration. This is when I stumbled upon a site called metalworkers.org, which, at the time, was a hub for wire and metal artists to post their creations. I drew a lot of inspiration from this site because I had never really been exposed to wire work prior to my friend showing me the piece he made. During the Summer of 2007, shortly after making my first piece, I went on festival tour that summer, and to my surprise I encountered many talented wire artists that were working for themselves and making a living doing something they enjoyed. I found a huge source of inspiration from this and went home and started making more and more pieces. It wasn’t until 2010, after graduating from college, that I realized that I wanted to try and pursue something that most people don’t– being self employed. I made as many pieces of jewelry I could afford to make and went back on festival tour, and much to my surprise, I was able to make good money off of my work. I did this for a couple of years until I was able to afford to pay by myself to attend jewelry school, of which I finished in 2013.
2. Your jewelry is crafted very intricately, precise, and intentional. Exploring various styles, themes, and gem incorporations. What’s the creative process like, how does it all emerge?
As far as the creative process for me making jewelry, it starts very differently for each piece. Some designs start with detailed sketches where everything is planned out very precisely from the size of gemstones to the gauges of metal being used, to the steps involved in making the creation. At other times, I do things in a freestyle manner where I pick out a handful of gems and continually arrange them in different ways until I find something that is visually appealing to me. All in all, I try to stick with having very clean lines and detailed arrangements that are compositionally alluring. From there the madness begins. Creating an intricately wire wrapped piece of jewelry is something that can be very difficult. Making each wire do what you want can be very tricky and requires a lot of patience and high attention to detail. There have been many times where I have reworked a section of a piece a dozen times until I get the right look. It’s one of those things where you have to be willing to scrap a piece if it doesn’t hold up to a standard you are trying to create, and I hold my self to a really high standard. In the beginning stages of making a complex wire wrap pendant, wires are everywhere, going in various directions, resembling a tangled mess. It is with precision and careful movements that I am able to dissect the mess and create a work of art as an end result.
Rhodocrosite, Turquiose, Tourmaline, Emerald, Garnet, & Fibrous Suglite
3. What’s your favorite stone / gem / hybrid when creating? Which colors do you feel you work with most? Elaborate.
It’s really difficult to choose a favorite gemstone. I love all of them. I feel they are some of the most beautifully things on this planet, but if I had to choose just one it would be ‘Opal’. The variety and level of brilliance of an Opal gem is unparalleled. They have this ability to throw rainbows around in this dazzling display of color and light. It’s also that they incorporate all the colors under the sun. In my mind, not much comes close to a fine Opal specimen, with reference to the colors I choose in my work. It is one of those things that depends on my mood really. Sometimes I have a tendency to use cool colors, like blue, green, & purple. At other times, I really dig warmer colors. More so than anything I like arranging colors in my work so that they pop off each other.
4. What has been the greatest feeling that has emerged through your daily routine? What keeps you aligned and centered?
I would say the greatest feelings that emerge from my daily routine are those expressions I see when a piece completed, and the feelings of sheer joy that come from making a piece of jewelry for someone that could potentially be with them forever. It’s a deeply humbling feeling for me. Another great thing that has emerged from my daily routine is how I have found the ability to zen out while working. It’s like I get sucked into a time warp and the next thing I know, it’s several hours later and I am closing in on potentially completing a new piece of art. The whole process of making jewelry is very meditative for me. It has really taught me a lot about myself, and the ability to learn a deep level of patience.
Rubellite Tourmaline, Hessonite Garnet, Amethyst , Emerald, Sapphire, & Spessertine Garnet
5. Do you collaborate often? If so, what has been your favorite collaboration? Why?
I have collaborated with many artists that make jewelry . It’s a really neat thing to do for me because the way each person goes about making a piece of jewelry is very different, especially with wire wrapping. Each artist has their own style and technique when it comes to execution; some people will be more rigid while others might be more “flowy”. I don’t know if I can choose a favorite artist to collaborate with. All of the artists that I have had the opportunity to work with are all stellar human beings. At the end of the day I just feel awe struck that I can work with other people in making jewelry, and not only work but create these high forms of art.
6. Besides being a jewelry artist, are there any other hobbies that you tap into on the regular?
Besides being a jewelry artist, I don’t really have other hobbies as there are so many avenues in jewelry with regard to form. I started off with wire wrapping, and am now moving more into fabrication and wax carving. That’s one of the incredible things about making jewelry, there are so many ways in which to do it, that you could spend your entire life mastering the various forms. Besides making jewelry, I love being out in nature. From going to the Greenbelt or swimming in the river…there’s something refreshing and recharging about connecting with nature. If I’m ever having a hard time with a certain piece and feel like I’ve hit a wall, I resort to nature for inspiration and insight. Although, I have found a new affinity for rock climbing.
Pendant: Tourmaline, Sapphires, Amethyst , Spinel, & Garnet
7. What kind of music do you listen to most when you’re creating?
With regard to what kind of music I like to listen to, I am all over the place, I love music ! It’s one of those things that continually changes depending on my mood. Some days it’s Blue Grass and Folk music, or Jam bands. Other days I get real into electronically influenced music like Downtempo, Drum and Bass, or Glitch-Hop. Then there are times when all I listen to is intellectual Hip Hop. All of it gets me hyped up in different ways.
8. What are your goals for the new year, where would you live to see yourself extend and evolve into?
My goals for the new year are to continually evolve my craft. I want to push my self in new and exciting ways. I try to not let myself ever get comfortable because when you let yourself get too comfortable, you stop growing. Eventually, I plan to move away from wire wrapping and more into creating high end fine jewelry. A goal of mine this year is to work on creating a line of jewelry around a centralized theme while pushing myself and expand my skill set. Basically, I want to continue to push myself in ways that I am creating things that you’ve never seen before.
Woven Cuff and Ring: Tsavorite Garnets ,Cuff. Ring. Champagne Diamonds, & Hessonite Garnets
Collection of Woven works.
“Event Horizon” top to bottom: Hessonite Garnet, Rubellite, Heliodor, Aquamarine, & Tourmaline
Faceted Tourmaline, Raw Tourmaline, Aquamarine, & Vanadium Diopside
Spaceship Key Series : Amethyst, Kyanite, Tsavorite, & Spessertite Garnet
“Darkened Luminosity” Tourmaline: 3 Canadian Diamonds, Purple Sapphire, & Tsavorite Garnet
Tourmaline, Ajoite, Ruby, Morganite, Diopside, Tanzanite, & Black Opal
Single Stone Pendant. Tourmaline
3 pendants: 1 Aquamarine & Garnet | 2. Tourmaline & Opal | 3. Tourmaline & Emerald
Symmetrical, Collaboration with Theodore Ylaem | Tourmaline, Emerald, Diamond, Kyanite, & Rubellite
Tourmaline, Diamond, Garnet
“The whole process of making jewelry is very meditative for me. It has really taught me a lot about myself, and the ability to learn a deep level of patience.” – Future Artifacts
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