Elizabeth Gaines lives in a 95 year old house just outside an historical district in Western Michigan. Every day she walks down a hill to work and study in a studio downtown, and every night she walks up the hill to go home and spend time with two big, fuzzy, Mala-Mut dogs. She is a 2007 graduate of the Allesse Metals/ Jewelry Design Program at Kendall College of Art and Design, and an honored recipient of the Graduating Studio Excellence Award. She has been lucky to travel to San Francisco, St. Petersburg, San Diego, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Italy while attending KCAD, and has met many, many awesome people and talented artists during her scholastic career.

As a Metalsmith, Gaines has investigated many traditional and contemporary processes, materials and forms. From steel to sterling, huge rings to head adornment, the most important elements are exploring style and executing quality. Metal is a medium in which Gaines turns her imagination into tangible objects and finds it an amazing way to communicate with the world around her.

When not in the studio, you can find her at KCAD where she teaches Metalsmithing for their Continuing Education Program, or in Bonnie Blandford's Studio where she helps in the production of Blandford's line of Fine Jewelry. Mostly, though, she dreams of all the places there are to go in her kayak.