Bio

Ron Lodholz

President/Creative Director

While my influences and inspiration began much earlier, my career as a jeweler began in 1982 in a small Tennessee jewelry store. I was always thrilled by creation around me and found that the act of creating is what brought me peace and joy. Later in life, I was able to connect this creative desire with our Creator and understand that He has made us all in His image and wired us all with a need to create.

As a young apprentice I was taught the art of jewelry creation the old fashioned way. I learned to master one tool, one skill at a time. While continuing my education as a metal smith, I began my education as a gemologist with the Gemological Institute of America, where I received my Graduate Gemologist degree. I believe we should be in a continual state of growth. There is a difference in 20 years of experience and 1 year of experience, 20 times. With this in mind I am always working on new techniques to render gold, platinum and the finest of gems into wearable art.

In 1994, my wife and I moved to North Carolina, where we began to develop a plan to open a gallery. In 2001, that plan came to being in Cary with the opening of Stonehaven Jewelry Gallery. At Stonehaven we hold to the traditions of jewelry craftsmanship while using the latest technologies to push the envelope with innovative new creations that breathe new life into the art.

Regardless of how creative our imaginations are and how amazing we are made, there comes a time in artists’ lives when they have to look outside of themselves to find inspiration. This time in my career was crucial. I turned the skill of my hands and the work of my mind and heart over to Jesus Christ and simply asked Him to direct me. Since that time, my work has taken new life. I have found an overflowing fountain of ideas and designs that all wait to be created. My labors have been rewarded with two national design awards, but with the heart I’ve been given to glorify God, I pray that it is His handiwork, not mine seen in every piece I make.