Buds of May - First Artist is Beyond Sight

Summer Hartzfeld - Beyond Sight Custom Jewelry

Summer Hartzfeld has been blind since infancy but that hasn't stopped her from crafting beautiful pieces of jewelry. She lives with her Guide dog, Lake, who helps her get about the city. She joined the Regina Farmer's Market in 1997. Lake and Summer make their way to the market by bus, with Summer carrying all her cases in a back pack. She designed her cases herself and had them made by a local craftsperson.

Summer chooses her pieces by shape and texture, rather than by colour. She prefers to work with natural material such as semi-precious stones, sterling silver, and shells. Summer crafts all her own wire components from sterling silver wire. By touch she is able to make perfect loops and swirls. She can feel the smallest inclusion in a stone and can frequently tell the type of stone by its feel.

“I start playing with the beads, feeling each one, and figuring what shapes it will go with. I choose my stones carefully. My hands are my eyes. For colour I have to rely on the description by my sighted friends. Majority rules when it comes to colour, as everyone seems to have their own way of describing it. I think the stones show how amazing God's Creation is.”