Designer Biography

Taf Schaefer

Taf Schaefer, jewelry designer, sculptor, and Steuben Glass designer has focused her creative energies on the natural world and animal life. Her work is
stylized, often abstracted and seeks to capture the expressive qualities of the animals she sculpts, realized in stone and wood carvings, bronze castings,
mixed media and jewelry. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, Schaefer has taken a hands-on approach to her art. The actual process of
creating the work informs the aesthetic and allows serendipity to have a place in the final imagery. In her work for Steuben Glass, Schaefer took her
sculptural aesthetic and enlarged the vocabulary of glass design as she explored the world of nature.

Growing up on Cape Cod, Schaefer found that the teeming oceans and transcendent wild beauty inspired her to explore nature through art. Objects
found on hikes in the woods and nature walks along the seashore have been a source of inspiration for Schaefer along with the powerful imagery of the
world's animals. Exploring hidden worlds that are both a part of us and are mysteriously unknown to us informs Schaefer's work as her creative
vocabulary evolves.

Schaefer's desire to use her jewelry designs as a way to benefit animal conservation causes has led her to affiliate with the Mountain Gorilla
Conservation Fund. Originally Schaefer designed a large, crystal Gorilla, with a percentage of its sales benefitting the Mountain Gorilla Conservation
Fund. Now, Taf has designed the Signature Silverback Jewelry Collection for the MGCF showcasing a sculptural, sterling silver Mt. Gorilla image as a
pendant, bracelet element, charm, earrings, and wine charms all set amongst pearls, onyx beads, and silver beads and elements.

Schaefer has been in numerous group shows and has created commissioned works for private and corporate collectors. She is represented in the
collections of the Corning Museum of Glass, Cape Museum of Art, Seattle Aquarium, Vero Beach Environmental Learning Center, and in numerous
private, corporate and academic collections.

Jeweler Biography

Forthcoming...