Mineral's jewelry mines the best of nature

Northwest jewelry designer Lisa Kinoshita recently moved Mineral, her studio and retail shop, to new digs, and the small space is a gem of a jewelry store in downtown Tacoma. Painted a brilliant persimmon, and featuring two display cases that showcase jewelry, mounted insects and animal skeletons, the store exudes a mixture of avant-garde chic and life-science class.

Kinoshita describes her jewelry as "an ongoing dialogue with nature," and among the exo- and endoskeletons you'll find an amazing collection of sculptural jewelry. The organic materials in her pieces are wildly diverse. Her recent work includes designs in bronze and silver, the use of big stones and big pearls, recycled fishing net, deer skin and kinetic designs.

One choker is a combination of unusual, driftwood-shaped pearls, leather and handmade silver loops. Clients scoop up Kinoshita's airy, giant hoop earrings made of silver or silver and bronze. Animals such as a blowfish dangle from her series of silver bangles. A choker made of water-buffalo horns is both a striking statement and more than a little Wilma Flintstone. Her popular antler earrings and pendants are staple pieces in the collection. Details like bold bronze rings and semiprecious stones artfully embellish necklaces, earrings and bracelets.

While some of Kinoshita's jewelry evokes the ultralight airiness of mobiles, other pieces sport giant, striking stones, like chunky, gold-tinged rutilated quartz, chunks of pyrite (fool's gold) or geodes. "I'm endlessly amazed by the variety of stones and how cutting reveals color and depth," Kinoshita says. "I still get excited when a small, cavernous geode is cut open to reveal a tiny universe of crystals inside."

Prices for Kinoshita's striking pieces range from $45 to $600. And if you can't make the trip to Tacoma, these Seattle venues also carry Kinoshita's jewelry: Momo, Hitchcock, Betty Blue and the SAM Shop.

Mineral is at 301 Puyallup Ave., Space A, in Tacoma; 253-250-7745. Visit the store online at www.lisakinoshita.com.

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