Spotlight On: Deep Well Designs

Spotlight On:
Deep Well Designs

As part of our ongoing series, we are interviewing people of interest in the area who are having a positive impact on our community.

This time, we reached out to Riley and Thomas Johnston of Deep Well Designs.  They are from Luning, NV and will be participating in the Inyo Council for the Arts Labor Day Weekend Arts & Crafts Show at the Bishop City Park this Friday through Monday!

Please tell us how Deep Well Designs started, and what is your mission?

The origin story for Deep Well Designs starts when Thomas was just a child. His grandfather (Willie Buffington) would take him out mining at his turquoise claims and then started teaching him the basics of silversmithing and lapidary (stone cutting) around 9 years old. Thomas took those basics and expanded on them to add new techniques and skills. For years Thomas would sell his creations off and on but it was a lot to handle as just one person. After we met in 2018 Thomas started teaching me (Riley) the basics of lapidary art so I could ultimately take on that part of the business. I also took on the marketing, social media, and website creation so he could focus on the art! When the pandemic hit, it gave us the opportunity to take the business full time and we haven’t looked back!

What initially inspired you to start designing jewelry, and how has your inspiration evolved over time?

Grandpa Willie Buffington is the main source of inspiration. He was Thomas’s hero and really instilled the passion of working with your hands and learning a skill that you can always fall back on. Sadly he passed in 2021 but still influences every piece we make. We also draw on the beauty of nature as well as mechanical designs for inspiration

Can you describe your design process from concept to completion?

Our process is really unique! When grandpa passed in 2021 he gave Thomas his turquoise and variscite claims. Our pieces are very start to finish. We start with mining the rough stones by hand, and then bringing them back to our home shop to cut and polish them as cabochons. Once the stones are ready to be set, the design process begins. Thomas was taught the “old school” way of silversmithing. He melts down his own silver or gold and pours ingots to work with. Every detail in a piece is hand created, unique, and meant to last generations!

How do you approach custom orders or commissions differently from your standard collections?

As our business has grown, we have had to find a balance between inventory pieces and selective custom orders. Inventory usually revolves around past designs, the time of year, or a special events. The custom orders are rewarding but we are very selective to find ideas we are excited about! The ones that we take on are usually “memory pieces” (pictures attached). These pieces are created after a conversation with the client to determine what memories they are wanting to convey in a piece. We check in through the process but most clients allow us to have creative free reign. Each piece is so unique and has such personal meaning it is very rewarding!

How do you choose the materials and gemstones for your pieces?

As far as stones go, we are pretty partial to Turquoise and Variscite from our personal mining claims. We do work with other materials on request and ensure that we are sourcing them from reputable and ethical sources. As far as metals go, we use a lot of sterling silver and then Thomas likes to create his own gold alloys. This process requires specific measurements and ratios of gold, silver, and copper to create different karats.

Lastly, where can people find you?

With the exception of a few shows, we are entirely online! Our website is www.deepwelldesigns.com and we keep it updated with available pieces, a gallery of past pieces, as well as a blog, merch, and stones. Our Facebook is Deep Well Designs and IG is @deepwelldesigns00. We also love setting up in person for both Mule Days and the Tri-County Fair in Bishop, CA – feel free to come say hi if you are around!

A special thank you to Deep Well Designs for answering our questions!

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TM Rush