Vanessa Walilko has been making meticulous pieces of jewelry most of her life. At age eight, she took a beaded jewelry class in the summer, and fell in love with putting together little beads in order to make whatever ideas she could dream up. She took a chainmaille class in 2006 and has linked over 100,000 jump rings ever since.
Pieces from Vanessa's Urban Armor series have been featured in national exhibitions, including the 2010 Society of North American Goldsmiths' "Exhibition in Motion" at the Museum of Fine Art in Houston, TX. Her pieces have also won international awards. Her chainmaille jacket won 2nd place in the Wirework category and the People's Choice Award in the 2010 Bead Dreams competition. Her scalemail jacket won first place in the Wirework and Chain Maille Jewellery category of the 2010 British Bead Awards.
When Vanessa is not making jewelry, she can be found teaching jewelry making in Chicago or writing papers on critical theory.
