Hello! My name is Jama Watts and I'm the artist behind all of the work here at The Artificer's Archive. I've been creating all of my life, with art being the class I always looked forward to, even in elementary school. I get to create? Get my hands dirty? Cool!
In addition to creating, I'm also a big ol' geek. I unapologetically geek out over things like Dungeons & Dragons (currently playing an human artificer), comics (Batgirl, Sandman, Maxx), books (give me Neil Gaiman, Jim Butcher, Anne Rice), art (Judy Chicago, Edgar Degas, Cindy Sherman), yoga, video games, tattoos... I could go on. So yeah, nerd, geek, whatever.
I was born and raised in Kentucky and moved to the Hampton Roads Area of Virginia in 2020. I have a B.A. in art from Campbellsville University and MLIS from the University of Kentucky. I'm a mom of a motley crew, wife of a retired airman, full-time artist/jeweler/craftsperson, and former librarian, genealogist, web designer, barista, and gallery owner. No matter what I've done, art and creating have always called to me.
I was previously juried into the Kentucky Crafted program and have won several awards for jewelry design from Fire Mountain Gems and Bead and Button's Bead Dreams competition. If you remember HGTV's show "That's Clever," I was even featured there! I'm always looking for news ways to express myself and LOVE learning new techniques.
If you're in the Southeastern Virginia area, you can find my work at Styx N Stones in the Hilton Village area of Newport News, The Artists Gallery in the Virginia Beach Art Center, The Arts Center @ 319, and on occasion in shows at the Charles H. Taylor Art Center with the Hampton Arts League and other galleries in the Hampton Roads area. If you're interested in something a little different and custom, fill out my Custom Item Request Form on my website (www.artificersarchive.com) and let's get the ball rolling!. I absolutely love creating custom one-of-a-kind pieces for people!