Our values
Equality, Inclusion & Sustainability
Moraine as a company and Kelsey as a person believe in equality and inclusion. It is more important than ever to reach out in love & hope to those around us. We firmly believe that our pursuit of art and beauty should never be at the expense of others or our planet.
The jewelry industry is imperfect, but we hold sustainability and environmental responsibility at the core of our business. We make an immense effort to choose the best & safest option at every stage in our studio process.
Our pieces are made with recycled materials - our stones are sourced from trusted suppliers who also prioritize environmentalism & sustainability. If you have any questions or suggestions on how we can improve our footprint - please reach out. We are always looking to learn and grow.
playing with light
Inspiration
I am often asked while at our Leland shop - what is your inspiration? what do you love about your process?
Depending on the day the answer might simply be a wide swipe of my hand towards the window. Our natural world is an endless well of inspiration & drawing from it is one of the most natural human experiences.
On wordier days - I'll often describe a piece by the feeling it gives me - reaching for some sort of shared experience to explain how it came to be. That filigree piece over there? Can't you just feel the type of wind that makes that shimmer? The quick little breeze across the lake on still summer afternoon. A blue-green sapphire set into my hand-carved Reflect Collection texture? That's a moment of wonder on the edge of the deep deep lake drop-off. Balancing on a paddle board staring into the depths with little sparks of light bouncing off every rolling wave underfoot.
What fascinates me about jewelry, metalsmithing, all of it - is the light! Working in a reflective medium is a challenge and a joy. I've found that the moments in the natural world that capture my imagination most, are moments of dynamic light. Those are the moments I transform into wearable art. Interpreting the light & transfering into each and every piece of jewelry I create.
Reach out if you have any questions about my process, my inspiration, etc. I always love to hear from you all! :)
MEET THE ARTIST
ABOUT MORAINE & KELSEY
I’m Kelsey McQuown & I live and create here on Michigan’s stunning Leelanau Peninsula. If I'm not in the big lake — I'm in the dunes hiking with at least two cameras in hand & if you still can't find me I'm in deep the studio chasing down an idea.
Why the name Moraine? Growing up in the Great Lakes Region, I was well aware that our lake-surrounded state looks how it looks because of the movement of glaciers. To brush up on geological terms quickly — A moraine is “an accumulation of unstratified and unsorted debris that has been previously carried along by a glacier.” This debris can range in size from powdery silt to mammoth boulders. Many of your favorite prominent topographic features in Michigan are moraines.
There's alot more geological information I could easily share with you — but I'll refrain. I will however take you along the path my mind wandered when I thought about Moraine as the name for my creative business. I thought about the path of my personal creative experience — all that I’ve learned academically, learned accidentally, and taught myself over the years. All of the physical objects I’ve created in that time. I thought about my creative energy as a slow glacial mass moving forward & retreating, ebbing & flowing. Grand ideas as boulders I push along for years at a time & tiny idea sparks as the fine silt filling the open spaces in my mind. All of these objects & ideas as an unsorted, jumbled mass I create, carry, and leave behind — my own type of moraine.
