Meet Jonathan Dritto | Jeweler

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jonathan Dritto and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jonathan, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
Following my gut is one of the most important things in my life especially in the world of creative living. In a world where nature is nurtured into the “stable choice”, why would I leap into the unknown? Why do I keep pushing my dreams up the mountain when they seem to want to landslide down? It is that feeling in my GUT and my SOUL, and when I hit those walls I sit down to visualize my dreams ahead. I visualize my dream bright and strong in front of me. Visualizing all the work it will take to keep my dream in the light. I then visualize all the factors that make me want to quit like the financial side of paying bills and buying materials to the creative side of having art blocks, creative slumps, and backed up orders. Now that all that is visualized I then pick the negative away, to see that even if none of those factors existed, I would still choose to wake up and make art every single day. I would still see that no matter what, I would never want to go back to the normal grind because working hard for my dream was what made me happier than any “stable” day at a nine to five gig. Giving myself the time to visualize these things helps me stay on track. Even when the walls grow taller than the empire state building and seem to be impossible to scale if I mentally strip it all away I see that those mountains aren’t there to make me quit. They are there to remind me just how high I can jump.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art form of choice is wire wrapping and making handcrafted jewelry with different gauges of wire that set the gems by using different patterns of wire. This is an ancient form of art the earliest examples of this date back 4,300 years! I first encountered this art growing up in New York. My mother would always bring me and my brother to the Museum of Natural History and it is there where I saw my first pieces of wire wrapped jewelry. I never thought many years later I would be keeping that ancient art alive. It’s amazing how this community of artists can all use the same materials but come out with a different piece of art. This allows us all to set ourselves apart and one thing I am most proud of is that my way of standing out is to create pieces that are “one-offs”, meaning that every piece I make is a one of a kind piece of jewelry. It makes me proud knowing that each client can cherish their piece of jewelry knowing they are the only ones in the world with it. It feels amazing tapping into each set of stones that call for a new and unique design to be housed in. It took and still takes a lot of hard work to continue climbing my mountain of success and even though the hike seems to be relentless some days the views are continuously breathtaking and remind me why I continue to climb. I’m incredibly thankful for my family, friends, and clients who continuously support my work. Everyone has played a part in helping me to overcome the challenges and every like, comment, share, purchase or any form of appreciation and criticism helps me push through the challenging days to acknowledge what I’m doing is right. It is not easy but creating something from the depths of your soul and sharing it is an art ethos I hold dearly. I don’t create if I’m in a bad mood as I want everything that’s being channeled through my being to be projected into a piece that holds positive and intentional energy. Creating entirely from the heart and soul has been a huge lesson to learn. Understanding you’re projecting your gift and talents that represent your genuine and unapologetic self is hard and as an artist, I spent a lot of time in the “grass is greener” realm of comparing my art to others. That road is a tough road and the only way you can conquer that is believing fully in yourself and again just creating art that you want to create from the depths of your being. That energy alone will represent your art. Another big art ethos I have with my brand is being a small business I always want to support my community and keep that energy flowing so every month I put aside an allotted amount of money that goes specifically back to artists and small businesses. It is something that makes doing taxes at the end of the month a little more exciting when you see that perpetual cycle of support being put back into the community. If the world were to hear anything about my brand and story it would be to follow your gut, forget the naysayers, and express your genuine and unapologetic self. Set your soul on fire!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Denver is a great place but the true glory of Colorado is in the mountains. Once you fight through all the touristy stuff and food chains you can still find the hidden gems of the city. I’m a go with the flow guy so itineraries aren’t my thing. We would start the trip by heading to the Rino district where they host an event every year called Crush Walls, where thousands of artists are assigned a wall for them to throw down their talents. It is also a great place filled with breweries like “Our Mutal Friend” and bars like Meadowlark. Drinks and art walk is always a great day! Finish the day with some dinner at Barbed Wire Fish or Rootdown and a concert at Your Mom House. Your Moms House is my favorite venue in Denver that hosts many large names, local acts and is a huge supporter of local art and artists so if youre in Denver it should definitely be on the list as I feel its a pillar to the community. Up early the next day we’d head to the mountains driving up the front range through Golden with a quick stop at Gold Mine Cupcakes for a sweet treat before either heading to St. Marys Glacier for a nice and mellow hike to an astounding view. The rest of the adventures would be driving and exploring all the open range that CO has to offer. Driving through the passes we would go up through Loveland pass to truly experience the vast expanse that is the Rocky Mountains. Maybe camping under the stars if the weather permits. Every time someone comes to town Its always a must-see to drive through the mountains and up through the mountain towns like Breckenridge and Estes Park. I think you truly get the Colorado experience when realizing just how small we are in this world and by all means those rocky mountains will remind you of that.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I dedicate everything I have to my family and friends for always being there to push me forward on the cloudy days and to all my supporters and clients who continuously show my art love and appreciation. It takes the team to make the dream and for that, I am forever grateful.

Website: https://j-dritto-creations.myshopify.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jdritto_creations/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JDrittoCreations

Image Credits
Credits to Mother Nature for providing me such beautiful materials to showcase.