Meet the maker-
Jean Korpi Brozka
Jean is a Montana artist, living in the beautiful Gallatin Valley with her Husband and family. She is a Mom to two children and two doggies, who make life very busy and full of surprises!
Jean’s artistic background includes college metalsmithing courses, home studio experience, and apprenticing under a professional jeweler at a fine jewelry store. With these skills, she is able to create jewelry that is unique and playful yet fabricated with attention to craftsmanship and quality. A self-proclaimed jack-of-all-trades, Jean pulls inspiration from all areas of life and art into her creations.
She favors large, bold designs filled with color. The pieces are eclectic and often one-of-a-kind. Jean is inspired by the beauty of a stone, the play of color in a bead, or the texture of metal and often works off-the-cuff and lets her design process flow while she is at the bench. Sterling silver, mixed metals, leather, found objects, and gemstones are the basis for Burnished & Bent Jewelry designs.
Cast-off Materials
Brought to Life!
Burnished & Bent Jewelry is founded with this in mind.
I use found objects & materials. These materials are often used & worn. Burnishing is a process I use, setting cabochons & smoothing metal. Also, in finishing leather edges. A major process in my work is bending & manipulating wire. Bent feels used. Burnished & Bent evokes the feeling of being used, worn, broken-in, rustic and at home in Montana. The adornments- jewelry, home goods, accessories are either used or give the feeling of being loved & worn already. Re-using, recycling, & upcycling is something I’m passionate about.
What do we do best? - Handmade processes where Ordinary materials are made special. Ordinary, discarded materials are revived and given new life in Burnished & Bent Jewelry pieces.
Sterling Silver
A shiny, white metal, 92.5% pure silver and the rest alloy. Silver is prized for its ability to take on a high shine and luster. Burnished & Bent pieces are either solid Sterling or Sterling Plated, we always let you know which is which!
Upcycled Metals
We have copper from Art School printmaking classes, and heavily patinated copper flashing from a cedar shake roof. Other base metals such as jeweler’s brass sheet and brass or copper findings are often used, but are new material.
Upcycled Leather
We have a large collection of suede and full-grain leather scraps saved from a hobbyist’s collection. There are also cords and scraps of leather re-purposed from woven and tooled leather belts.
Upcycled & Gemstone Cabochons
Often, we take stones out of old, dated jewelry to use in new B&B pieces. Otherwise, we try to source our cabochons and other cuts of stones from local vendors or estate sales.
Glass, Gemstone, & Other Beads
Lots of these beads are relics from a childhood obsession with collecting! We have a wide range of materials, source, and age in our Bead Box Specials.
Found Objects
Coins, rusty keys, a pretty rock… the list goes on and on!