Annika Kaplan, the maker behind today’s beautiful brass hairpin, studied jewelry design and fabrication at the Savannah College of Art and Design and the Minneapolis Community and Technical College.  She specializes in highly wearable and unique jewelry made by hand in her south Minneapolis studio.

Her interest in jewelry was sparked at the age of 5 when she pierced her own ears!  “I spoke to my Mom about this recently.  I think it was a little traumatic for her, but she realized how bad I wanted to wear earrings and she helped me put some hoops in and taught me how to keep them clean etc. I just had such an interest in ornamentation from a young age.”  Her desire to continue to learn about and make jewelry lasted throughout her high school and college years.  “Jewelry was really the only thing I wanted to do, the only thing I could imagine being happy doing.”

Annika has been making and selling jewelry for close to 10 years now.  She is inspired by the tradition of adornment and is currently in love with Southwestern Native American silver jewelry and traditional goldsmith’s techniques from West Africa.  “I’m obsessed with the idea of wearing jewelry for protection, luck, or some other spiritual intention.”  

For a peek into Annika’s life with her little dog Una and her creative process, follow her on Instagram @annikashipandshape. Her work can be found online at www.shipandshape.com, and at various stores in Minneapolis and elsewhere, (see my website for a complete list of shops). 

Locals, if you’d like to see her work in person, she will be showing a wide variety of jewelry, including one-of-a-kind gemstone rings, at the Walker Art Center Jewelry Mart on May 2nd.