The Inspiration Behind the Sheila Cuff

My mom Sheila, had a unique kind of beauty — the kind that didn’t ask for attention but somehow filled every room. She had a love for things that carried a story, especially turquoise and copper jewelry. Those stones weren’t just pretty to her — they were alive, steeped in the spirit of the desert, the warmth of the earth, and the artistry of the hands that shaped them.

When I was a kid, she had this incredible cuff and ring set — turquoise framed in copper with patina peeking through where time had kissed it. My grandmother had bought it decades earlier from a Navajo woman selling her work on the roadside during a family road trip. It wasn’t from a store or a showcase — it was from a story, a memory, a human moment of connection.

After my mom passed away at 71 from a stroke, that set went missing. I searched for it, hoping somehow it would find its way back to me. It never did. But what I realized is that the jewelry wasn’t the treasure — she was. Her love for Native craftsmanship, her appreciation for beauty born from the land, and her belief that jewelry was meant to be worn, lived in, and loved; all of that stayed.

Every turquoise stone I touch, every cuff I wear, every piece that catches the sun reminds me of her — of the woman who taught me to see art in metal and soul in stone. The cuff may be gone, but her story lives on in this piece I created together with my friend Dave at Arizona Copper and Silver Co.

It’s not just jewelry. It’s legacy — hers, mine, and the women who came before us.

I hope you'll purchase a cuff and wear it in honor of my mom who would have loved meeting you and would have invited you in for a meal and good conversation. 

Love,

Mary Anne