Hey lovelies! 

My name is Christine and I'm the designer behind Dear Survivor. I live in Los Angeles with my husband Cody and sweet dog Woody. I've run Dear Survivor since 2015 when I took my $800 tax return and decided to invest it in my creativity and launch my own company. I have learned a lot since then, and my brand has evolved and changed with me over the years. It's been a wild ride to say the least, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to make you precious heirlooms. 

I have an interesting relationship to jewelry. Interesting in that for majority of my life I'd say that I didn't like or care about it. So how did I end up in this design space? Great question. 

I've always been creative. My dad is a painter, so I grew up around art. In fact most of my memories are built around art projects - from pastels and paper mache as a kid, to designing my clothes and accessories in high school, to sculpting as an adult and all the places around the world it's taken me - I see the world and my life through the lens of creativity.

I've never been a jewelry girl. I don't come from a family that gifted or passed down jewelry. As a kid my ear piercings closed up a couple of times from sensitivity to metal, so I avoided earrings for most of my life. Growing up in the 90s meant that the fine jewelry I was exposed to was Kay's commercials on tv, the very avante-garde 80s rings I'd see on people's hands, or the Tiffany's bracelets girls at school would wear. All of which to me were just ugly and boring, and thus I had zero interest in jewelry as a whole. 

 That is, until I realized that jewelry could be art. 

Until the mid-20th century, jewelry was art. Like a painting or sculpture - the artist considered overall composition and aesthetic. Modernization in the jewelry industry has led to standardization, and removed much of that artistry. And then the diamond industry convinced everyone they needed a big diamond on their hand, which has lead to majority of brands today designing the exact same rings.

Once my creative curiosity lead me into the world of antique and ancient jewelry, and I saw that jewelry could and should be art - it unlocked a whole new realm of creativity. As an artist, my desire is to make you the most beautiful thing you own. And once I realized that I could work with the most precious materials, to make you the most beautiful object, that you then wear and cherish for a lifetime....wow, that's all I want to do with my life. And then it gets passed down for generations to come! What an honor to create heirlooms.

So that's how I got here. My many years of sculpting have directly translated to this world of design. I've also realized that I have a unique voice in this industry, because I'm a woman. It's been interesting to enter this industry and realize that majority of fine jewelry is designed by men and purchased by men, for women. I think that as a woman and an artist, I'm bringing something very unique to the table. 

Thanks for following along through the many iterations of Dear Survivor :) You're continued support of my work means more than you know! 

xo,

Christine