Katherine Prejean, a married mother of four, was born on October 19, 1960. Forty-four years later, she made her first pair of earrings and started creating jewelry as a hobby. She began with simple beading designs before furthering her skills in the field and discovering her creative niche working with metals.
A native of south Louisiana, Prejean creates jewelry that is engaging, sophisticated, inviting, well-crafted and beautiful. Using metals as the main focal point, she complements her designs with colorful, semi-precious gemstones and many other natural materials, including freshwater pearls and leather.
Prejean continues developing her style, taking workshops from Master Instructors and experimenting with new mediums. Her most recent exploration combines metal clay with traditional metals to create unique pieces. Metal clay is a relatively new medium composed of microscopic particles of metal (silver, bronze, copper, or gold) that are mixed with water and an organic binder, creating a pliable material with a consistency similar to modeling clay. When the object is taken to a specific heat and the binder is burned off in a jewelry kiln or with a torch, the metal sinters. Using this process, Prejean is left with pieces that are composed of 99.9% fine silver, sterling silver, copper, bronze, or gold.
Katherine Prejean is proud to be an active contributor to Southwest Louisiana’s arts scene, right in the heart of Cajun Country. She is also a member of Louisiana Crafts Guild (www.louisianacrafts.org) and Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi (www.craftsmensguildofms.org). In 2012 she became a PMC Certified Instructor through PMC Connection and Rio Rewards so that she could help other artists find their voices. Prejean now teaches general classes from beginner to advanced, in her home studio in Lafayette, Louisiana, recently expanding to New Orleans, Lake Charles and Gulf Coast, Mississippi. She is also one of four founding members of the L’esprit du Metal Louisiana Chapter of the PMC Guild, where she serves as Treasurer and Secretary.
All of KP Designs Handcrafted Jewelry is created in Prejean’s home studio.
A native of south Louisiana, Prejean creates jewelry that is engaging, sophisticated, inviting, well-crafted and beautiful. Using metals as the main focal point, she complements her designs with colorful, semi-precious gemstones and many other natural materials, including freshwater pearls and leather.
Prejean continues developing her style, taking workshops from Master Instructors and experimenting with new mediums. Her most recent exploration combines metal clay with traditional metals to create unique pieces. Metal clay is a relatively new medium composed of microscopic particles of metal (silver, bronze, copper, or gold) that are mixed with water and an organic binder, creating a pliable material with a consistency similar to modeling clay. When the object is taken to a specific heat and the binder is burned off in a jewelry kiln or with a torch, the metal sinters. Using this process, Prejean is left with pieces that are composed of 99.9% fine silver, sterling silver, copper, bronze, or gold.
Katherine Prejean is proud to be an active contributor to Southwest Louisiana’s arts scene, right in the heart of Cajun Country. She is also a member of Louisiana Crafts Guild (www.louisianacrafts.org) and Craftsmen’s Guild of Mississippi (www.craftsmensguildofms.org). In 2012 she became a PMC Certified Instructor through PMC Connection and Rio Rewards so that she could help other artists find their voices. Prejean now teaches general classes from beginner to advanced, in her home studio in Lafayette, Louisiana, recently expanding to New Orleans, Lake Charles and Gulf Coast, Mississippi. She is also one of four founding members of the L’esprit du Metal Louisiana Chapter of the PMC Guild, where she serves as Treasurer and Secretary.
All of KP Designs Handcrafted Jewelry is created in Prejean’s home studio.