Artist:    Somers Randolph

He is known for his larger pieces in marble and alabaster and for more than 25 years he has also whittled small shapes and concepts for his sculpture in soapstone, creating thousands of three dimensional doodles.  In April of 2000, Randolph met Hillary Fitzpatrick, the woman who became both the inspiration for his jewelry and his wife.

Randolph is, as his wife describes him, "six feet seven inches of large, earthy man".  As he whittles, his hands envelop both knife and soapstone.  To see the elegant results dwarfed in his palms is magical.

Captivated by the tiny stone carvings, Hillary asked Somers if she might wear one of his “miniature sculptures” as a pendant hung from a silken cord.  He was most obliging, but he remarked that they were very likely to break, as soapstone is very soft and fragile.

At that point Hillary, fresh from a dozen years in the top echelons of the New York fashion and retail world, had a brainstorm: they would cast Randolph’s soapstone shapes, using the lost wax method and a five-step finishing process, to transform the stone into silver, sculpture into jewelry.

Within a year they had developed over fifty pendant designs and a series of bracelets and earrings.   Hillary and Somers Randolph had created SOMERS jewelry - a design company to showcase Randolph’s creations.  SOMERS swiftly gained momentum as museums, major department stores and galleries across the country join the growing number of SOMERS clientele.

The art of Somers Randolph has now come full circle, from carving stone down to its innate form, to casting it in precious metal, itself a product of the earth.  And the hearts of Somers and Hillary Randolph have also completed a circle...they live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with their daughter, Comfort Avery Randolph.