Irish Setter in the Vines Pin
Pen Andrishok received her MFA from the University of Iowa and began her career creating conceptual art dealing with women and AIDS. Along the way, she began rescuing Golden Retrievers. Then, a few weeks after Hurricane Katrina decimated New Orleans, a starving Goldie named Mardi found his way to a rescue organization and ultimately Andrishok's home and her devotion to rescue dogs grew more profound. Around the same time, Andrishok became interested in silversmithing and fell in love with it. This year, she decided to combine her two passions, rescuing dogs and silversmithing, and and her dog art jewelry line, 3 Dog Lookout, was born.
I don't feature a lot of dog art jewelry because I usually find it too cutesy for my taste. But Andrishok gives her pieces a sophistication and polish (in both senses of the word) that I adore. She also works to keep her prices for the pendants under $100, incredibly reasonable for custom hand sawn and soldered sterling silver jewelry (the cuffs and pins are more). And she sweetens the deal by donating 10% of sales to rescue dog organizations. Beautiful art for a worthy cause. Gorgeous!
Hammered Golden Retriever Pendant
Pen Andrishok's inspiration: Mardi, Ruby, Cleo, and Sonny
Custom jewelry based on a photograph of your pup and gift certificates are available at Andrishok's website 3 Dog Lookout.