Meet the Artist: Brenda Glasure, Tread the Terra
By Kelli Comer
“Brenda, you are strong, smart and resilient. You can tread the terra on your own terms.”
Years ago, during some health struggles, local jewelry designer Brenda Glasure was moved by this insightful comment from a friend. This interaction changed Brenda’s perspective, filling her with purpose and resolve. “Tread the Terra is sort of an anthem, reminding me that I have the power to affect change in my life,” Brenda says.
Brenda first embarked on making jewelry in the late 1980s. “My husband and I had been living in different states for a few months at that point, as we both had job commitments to tackle,” explains Brenda. “One weekend, a friend showed up at my door with a few bottles of wine, an overnight bag and a boatload of polymer clay. We made all sorts of fun, big earrings.”
After this foray into jewelry making, she was hooked. Brenda is largely self-taught but has worked with a few mentors through the years to help expand her metalworking skills.
A typical piece of Tread the Terra jewelry begins as a sheet of silver, copper, bronze or gold fill. Due to arthritis in Brenda’s hands, her father, Don Russell, has helped her to adapt her process. He uses a hydraulic press or a weighted mallet with disc cutters to punch out basic shapes from the metal sheets. Brenda then uses these shapes to build her creations. She hammers, forms and stamps them, often combining them with various gauges of wire. Metal mixing is often seen in her work: sterling silver and copper, copper and bronze and more. She continues with sanding, soldering, setting stones, antiquing and the final burnishing. From start to finish, every Tread the Terra piece is handmade.
“I love the perfectly imperfect nature of handmade jewelry,” Brenda notes.
Heavily influenced by adventure and nature, Brenda’s designs feature blossoms, compasses, maps, vines, leaves, insects and animals. Her pieces have been worn by local news personalities on air and have been shown and sold in juried gallery exhibitions, at BayArts in Bay Village and at River Light Gallery in Peninsula.
“The women who own my pieces have a strong sense of themselves. They seek jewelry that expresses their stories in unique ways,” Brenda smiles. “I enjoy creating a necklace or earrings that begin on my workbench, through all the various steps of the making. My part of that story ends when the piece is sold and becomes a part of the wearer’s story. I really love that. It makes me so happy.”
To reach Brenda, you can email her at treadtheterra@gmail.com. To learn more about the artist, her work and to shop online, visit TreadTheTerraJewelry.com.