Life & Work with Eliza Johnson of Lincoln Park

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eliza Johnson.

Eliza, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have always been a treasure hunter and a rockhound and have always wanted to exploit the awesome beauty of the incredible bounty of Michigan stones. When quarantine happened during the pandemic I found the time to do it! I started small learning how to inlay rings and cut stones. Today I run a studio out of my home creating one of a kind and custom pieces.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road was not smooth but not too hard to navigate either. I’ve been lucky in that there was interest in the work almost immediately. Learning techniques was a little challenging as I am completely self taught. And affording equipment was a bit of a struggle. Fortunately my parents helped a LOT in gifting needed equipment.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I make jewelry using Michigan sourced stones under the name LakeshoreLapidary. We specialize in Michigan stones either hand cut and hand polished and set in sterling silver prong and bezel settings or crushed and inlaid in various channel set wedding bands. We are known for our use of Leland blue stone and florescent sodalite two materials found only in Michigan.
There are a lot of things I am proud of but perhaps the thing that I am most proud of is the client base I have gathered over the years and the ones that return to me for new jewelry and refer their friends.
I think the thing that sets us apart is our usage of only Michigan stones in our jewelry.

How do you think about luck?
I’m not sure being let go in my day job was bad luck during quarantine as so many others experienced the same but, regardless this was the catalyst for me starting. I was lucky that interest in my jewelry was pretty high from day one.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lakeshorelapidary.com