California Poppy Earrings

Oxidized Sterling Silver

25 L × 25 W × 15 D (Stud), 45 L × 35 W × 10 D (Jacket)

On September 27, 2024, Hurricane Helene devastated my home in Western North Carolina. I was fortunate to sustain relatively minor personal property damage, but it was more than I was prepared for on a number of levels. In the storm, I lost quite a few trees on my forested property, but my garden thrived this year with the additional sunshine.
When it was safe to do so, I joined a community jewelry studio (Torched AVL) and found a lot of solace through working with metal again. Every day I would look at my flowers with gratitude and encouragement. Each set of earrings I’ve made refers to a flower in my garden to honor their resilience and hope. For Earrings Galore, I wanted to challenge myself by only using sterling silver sheet metal and wire to fabricate a cohesive collection.

Artist Bio:
Meghan Korol is a small business owner, cyclist and multidisciplinary artist (with a focus in metalsmithing) based near Asheville, North Carolina since 2010.
Her creative practice with metal began in high school and continued through college, where she earned a BFA in Studio Art from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Along with metalsmithing, Meghan worked extensively in textile design and glasswork.
After undergrad she took what was expected to be a short break from making art to race bicycles, and ended up racing around the country and world at the professional level for beyond a decade.
Since the COVID pandemic, Meghan began to break through a creative block and attended various workshops including Penland School of Craft and Shakerag Workshops to reconnect with art making in metal and weaving.
Enduring the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in 2024 encouraged Meghan to reevaluate priorities and take real action towards her dreams. She joined a community metals studio and started an art business in 2025.
As a lover of outdoor exploration and adventure, Meghan is continually inspired by time spent in nature. By fabricating, casting and incorporating botanical forms and found objects in her art, she elevates and give permanence to these plants, birds, bugs and animals.