Daunis Fine Jewelry
Patricia Daunis-Dunning and her husband William Dunning were both born in Maine.
Her love of art took her to the Rhode Island School of Design where after a look at architecture and a semester in textile design she discovered the metalsmithing/jewelry department and never left.
“It was so exciting. It was applied physics, math and art all rolled into one. I swore I would never be making jewelry and only worked on holloware projects (hollow metal objects such as bowls, teapots, chalices) while at RISD (that is, except for the sterling necklace I made with fishing lures from a famous local fishing can camping supply store).”
“I finally decided I could make jewelry that was unlike anything being offered in the marketplace. My background in sculpture and holloware–making sheet metal form into any shape I desired, was invaluable. I could create just about anything I could imagine.
Bill was focused from the beginning and also, graduated from RISD with his major in sculpture (which Patricia states is large jewelry). “I think in another life Bill was a painter (he actually does some painting now as well) because he can put together the most unlikely combination of colored gems and make them extraordinary.” His exemplary gift for colored gem combinations can be seen in the jewelry displayed at the Daunis studio.
Because of Bill and Patricia’s RISD education, they see jewelry as site specific sculpture…meaning that it is a sculptural form that suits the place on the body where it is worn. For this reason, we make our designs in many different widths and sizes so as to best work on the person who will wear the piece of jewelry.
We are proud that our jewelry has a fine art background that can be seen in the subtleties of our designs and that it is “Made in Maine and Worn around the World.”