American jewelry designer Earl Pardon

American jewelry designer Earl Pardon (1926 – 1991)

Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Earl Pardon was a painter, sculptor, jeweler and educator. With nearly forty years of experience in teaching, he raised a galaxy of talented jewelers. Having entered the Memphis Academy of Arts in 1951, he began teaching jewelry at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. In addition, from 1954-1955 Pardon worked as Assistant Director of Design for Towle Silversmiths. At the same time, he created unique jewelry, experimenting with enamels, colors, textures and metals. The uniqueness of his jewelry is in the fact that each element can exist on its own. And his brooches resemble framed in metal paintings. Thus, the artist confirms that jewelry design is an art. According to Earl, the painting of Cézanne and Picasso, the art of African tribes, and the philosophy of Zen had a strong influence on his work.
Noteworthy, his son Todd also became a jeweler, working in a similar technique. That’s why his work is sometimes confused with his father’s.
Art professor, Earl Pardon retired in 1989, and died in Boston, MA in 1991. The same year, E. Blauer in his book “Contemporary American Jewelry Design” devoted some pages to Earl’s work.

American jewelry designer Earl Pardon