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I've been a fan of gaudy, clunky costume jewelry for as long as I can remember – I think it had something to do with my mother's penchant for the same thing when I was growing up. Some people might think that “gaudy” or “clunky” have negative connotations, but I think they're some of the best adjectives when describing unique, over sized pieces.

Which is why I was drawn to Laura Iverson's creations. The pendant she featured on her site initially drew me in – the treble clef made of copper and mounted on the necklace caught my eye. Then I started clicking around and looking at some of the other styles, and found I really liked them too!

She's a self-proclaimed hippie, and when I asked her about her designs she said most of them were in the chunky, hippie style – and that nature is one of her biggest inspirations.

Laura is a full-time artist, selling her creations through her company, Zen Breeze Art – a name she says is derived from her Zen series of paintings. Plus, she says the idea of Zen has a lot of nature analogies, and enabled her to incorporate “something natural, such as a breeze.”

Laura describes her method for making art as this, “I am a polymer clay jewelry designer, which means I start off with hunks of raw clay, create and design, and cure it - bake it in a special oven.” She says she's been making varying types of art since she was a kid, and got more heavily into jewelry making when she did a “peace swap.” Laura explains that a number of different people got together and created peace-related items. That's when she says she decided to make pendants, and how she developed the peace sign pieces she sells.

She sells her creations primarily online, through her website, zenbreeze.com, through right here on ekaweeka (http://www.ekaweeka.com/zenbreeze), Etsy, and on eBay. If you're in the Northern California area, you can stop by and see her necklaces on consignment at Sacred Paths.