F
rom a very young age Audra Azoury felt
the allure of working with metal. Her
father was a gunsmith, and she saw how
metal could be worked, sculpted and crafted
into forms that possessed function as well
as beauty.
With a craftsman as a father, Azoury
cultivated her own creative persona and put
herself on an artist’s path. She attended the Art
Institute of Pittsburgh, majoring in art, and
worked as a graphic designer after graduation.
However, the economy had different plans
for Azoury, and when the recession began to
really pinch companies in Pittsburgh, she was
laid off and forced to start working freelance.
“At the time, I was just doing jewelry
to make myself happy. I wanted to find
something that I could do after I put my son to
sleep at night to make some extra money,” she
said. “But it blossomed and has become my
main job now.”
Part of the reason for her success came
from a trip to Fallingwater, Frank Lloyd
Wright’s magnum opus architectural design
that has drawn tourists from all over the world.
“I was doing a show at Fallingwater for
some of my sculptures, when I had the idea
of doing jewelry based on a few of the home’s
architectural elements,” Azoury said. “The
architecture there is just so amazing. There’s
nothing else like it really.”
Azoury’s jewelry based on Fallingwater was
a hit, especially with the Fallingwater Museum
Store, where her jewelry was picked up to sell
to visitors.
Back home, she started looking around and
realized that architecture beautiful enough to
lend itself to jewelry was all around her.
“I started designing images based on the
bridges in Pittsburgh, and it really just took off.
I went from doing this part time to doing this
full time,” she said.
The progression was another outlet for
Azoury’s art, and kept her working with media
she was already familiar with.
“I use steel a lot with my sculptures. Found
stone, steel and found wood are all elements
that I utilize. Steel has such a connection with
our city that it just made sense to continue
using it for my jewelry,” she said. “I love
industrial objects and finishes, and I wanted
to bring the world around us into something
more intimate. All of my designs are based on
the environment, the world around me. I try
to tell a story rather than just create a piece
or something pretty. All of my jewelry has a
connection.”
Because her working medium is steel,
Azoury’s jewelry is virtually maintenance-free.
The pure steel creations are clear-coated to
prevent corrosion and the stainless ones are,
well, stainless. While she’s making wearable
art, she’s quick to point out that she’s not a
jeweler by any means. And while it may
I was doing a show at Fall