About Us - Johanna Berge - The Jeweler

 Johanna Berge

 
Johanna was born and raised in Lake City, MN, a beautiful small town on the banks of the Mississippi river.  Although she had her first metalsmithing experience as a high school student, she came to jewelry-making many years later.  For much of her life, she has been an avid knitter, and her jewelry experience was that of a “consumer” always looking for unique designs.  A career as a Physical Therapist, and the multi-tasking required to raise children left little time for thoughts of new challenges.
 
That all changed when her youngest daughter got interested in beading and requiring trips to the local bead-store for supplies.  Johanna got hooked and began making small items for herself.  Although she has no formal “Art” training, friends noticed her unique jewelry designs, and began asking to buy the items she was wearing.   Thus began “Styles by Johanna.”  The business grew rapidly by “word-of-mouth,” and now Johanna finds herself, much to her surprise, a full-time artist!
 
Johanna is known for her beautiful and unique designs in combining beads and wire into high quality, reasonably priced jewelry.  She works in materials ranging from very economical all the way up to precious stones such as Rubies and Diamonds, combined with metal ranging from low-cost base-metals all the way up to high-karat Gold and Platinum.  Her styles range from “ancient-classical” up to cutting-edge “modern,” but all show evidence of her ability to create harmony and balance with her choice of materials combined into patterns that are pleasing to the eye.
 
In addition to making jewelry, Johanna enjoys outdoor recreational activities such as mountain-biking, running, hiking, and cross-country skiing.  As her family has grown, so has the number of artists under the Styles by Johanna LLC umbrella.  These now include her husband, daughter, son, and grandchildren.