After a mild cardiac event in 2007, Sheryl Holt Eberhardt retired from the stressful demands of enterprise information technology management.  In the summer of 2008, when she realized that she probably wasn’t going to drop dead, she enrolled in a Jewelry Fabrication class at the local community college.  Expecting to learn how to design and make beaded earrings and necklaces, she was astonished when the classroom had hammers, anvils, torches and sheet metal rather than beads and string.  Torches? Hammers?  Yes please!  Sheryl picked up a hammer and an acetylene torch at a garage sale, and SH Studios was conceived.

As a child of the 60s, Sheryl began her artistic musings by knotting intricate macramé belts and selling them to the local trendy boutique.  In the 70s, after spending time on the East Coast exposed to the rich architectural history and antiques there, she was inspired to design and create stained and leaded glass art. Following the birth of her daughter, she moved back to California where her skills at sewing and textile arts came to the forefront. 

Then, in the late70s, early 80s, along came computational machines and her fascination with the potential of personal computing (along with her natural talent for computer languages) led to a long and wild career in information technology that ended, as she describes it “…when it tried to kill me.”

In 2010, Sheryl moved in with her mother Beverly, who was recovering from hip replacement surgery. This move from Laguna Niguel to Laguna Beach also qualified Sheryl to participate in the Sawdust Art Festival, which uniquely supports local Laguna Beach artists, and in the winter of 2011, Sheryl participated in her first Winter Fantasy.  This year Beverly will be celebrating her 93rd birthday at the festival, — still lovingly cared for and supported by Sheryl.

Sheryl’s jewelry designs are inspired by the organic beauty of her Laguna Beach surroundings and the rigid geometrics of motherboards and circuitry.  Employing sterling silver, copper, found objects and precious gemstones, her designs feature artisan craftsmanship, earthy tones and happy accidents with a splash of clean contemporary lines thrown in for good measure.

“Gratefully, ‘Because I could not stop for death…’ I’ve learned, and am still discovering, the art and craft of metalsmithing and jewelry fabrication. Inspired by nature and thrilled by fire, my work is ever evolving and usually involves plenty of torch work and much hammering!  I feel incredibly lucky, to be doing something every day that presents interesting challenges and offers one of life’s greatest pleasures: creating something with my own hands.” ~ Sheryl Holt Eberhardt