John is a self-taught lapidariast (stone-cutter) and silversmith who found his passion for making silver jewelry late in life.  He joined a rock club and spent several years collecting rock and mineral specimens and learning to cut and polish unusual stones, such as petrified dinosaur bone, turquoise, and opal. 

Always a friendly guy eager to show off his work, John found people wanted to buy his stones and have them made into jewelry.  Since John couldn’t find anyone to set his stones in silver, he decided to learn how to silversmith so that he could do it himself.  He bought used equipment, got some “How-To” books for Christmas, and started practicing by making jewelry for his wife.

About a year after starting silversmithing, John was severely injured and paralyzed for a short time.  He had to spend the next few years at home recovering and turned to his jewelry-making full time as therapy. 
 

Today, John Murphy’s an outstanding silversmith who designs and builds all the fine silver and exotic stone jewelry he sells.  He specializes in clean, elegant pieces featuring opals from Australia and Mexico, turquoise from around the world, and other unusual stones.  His business is called JMM Creations and he and his wife, Carlie, sell at arts & crafts fairs in AZ, ID, CA, and CO.
 

If you are interested in John’s jewelry and want to see more, you can contact him by email or by phone: 

johnnies_email@yahoo.com