Photo: KBJR-TV

By Katelyn Quisenberry of KBJR-TV- August 8, 2021

While the pandemic changed many of our lives, it gave some people new beginnings.

For a Duluth jewelry artist, the pandemic meant a new start in her career.

Kumari Doffin, owner and artist of Joya By Hand, launched her jewelry company in the middle of the pandemic.

By incorporating joyful and lightweight materials, Doffin shares a piece of her own journey through the jewelry.

"I really like to do stuff that's personal to me, so I will do a lot of stuff based off of Lake Superior," Doffin said. "Just really whatever I'm feeling. It's a very much personal reflection of myself and my life and my circumstances at the time."

From studs to hoops, Joya By Hand offers something for every customer.

With every piece, customers can expect to find that creativity is painted and pressed into the finished masterpiece.

"I've done a lot of outdoor markets now and people are always like 'Is this like something you buy or are you sourcing this?' and I'm like 'No this is all handmade,'" Doffin explains. "So really a lot of positive reactions to the creativity that I've kind of grown throughout the pandemic and have worked on a lot."

Doffin focuses her efforts on bringing a little bit of Duluth to visitors and families everywhere.

Audrey Tusken, a DLH Clothing employee, said Doffin's travels to Peru and Washington make her work so unique.

"She's lived in different places like in the five years since we've graduated high school and so I would say that she kind of carries all these parts of herself into the earrings," Tusken said. "She grew up in Duluth and she's from here, but she's also experienced other places and I feel like that fun, adventurous part of her comes out in her earrings."

With every jewelry piece sold and created, Doffin hopes local artists are inspired through her work and dedication.

"Have a ton of fun with it and just try new things," Doffin said. "I think that there's this really big stigma in art and in the world of art that you need to be perfect at it or you're not worth doing the art, I guess. I think that you just have to try so just being patient."

At the end of the day, Doffin is not just in the business of stylish jewelry, she hopes customers will walk away with more joy than they had before.

Click here to learn more about Joya By Hand.

To watch the vide version of this story and read related articles, follow this link to the KBJR-TV website.  https://kbjr6.com/2021/08/08/duluth-artist-spreads-joy-with-one-earring-at-a-time/