Discover Artful Living Through Treasures that Inspire

Pennsylvania artist Reagan Hayhurst embodies a unique mindset that adds an element of inspiration to each of her handmade treasures, which include jewelry, home décor and stationery.

She strives not to overlook moments. They matter. Sometimes that moment is a perspective she never noticed before in her rearview mirror. It can be a color that plays out in her head like a video on loop.

Reagan uses all five senses to appreciate what many would call the small stuff.

“I think we all have the capacity to be that way,” she said. “It’s just whether we stop long enough to do the doing.”

Her favorite soundtrack while working in her home studio just outside of Scranton, Pennsylvania, is the birds singing. She is intentional about opening the windows on all three sides to bring the outdoors in. When her eye locks on something special – the movement of leaves, for example – she watches with curiosity.

“Every leaf dances differently,” she said.

One of the jewelry lines of Reagan Hayhurst Designs is Thoughts, hollow forms that represent Reagan’s thought bubbles, glimpses of ideas that beg for further introspection. Her other line, Concrete, is more simplified art for wear that, like Thoughts, uses ethically sourced gems and recycled silver and gold.

Reagan also makes stationery, her top seller, and paints, guided by her emotions.

“I love color and have a visceral response to it,” she said. “I either get chills or I can taste it in my mouth. I can smell it when I look at it, so I paint sensorially.”

As a child who moved constantly, Reagan made one annual request of Santa: fresh crayons with paper. As much as she liked using her hands, she didn’t grow up considering art as a career option. As the eldest of three children, Reagan felt the responsibility of caring for her siblings.

“I was surviving, and at the time, there were a lot more pressing things,” she said.

Reagan’s love for playing flute led her to study music education at Marywood University in Scranton. Realizing she didn’t want to teach, she graduated with a bachelor’s in public relations and advertising. But she found her first job in the field unfulfilling.

“I hated it,” she said plainly.

Her life took a “crazy turn” when her roommate taught her how to bead simple jewelry.

That exposed her to a textile design community that was largely a bunch of Deadheads supporting their lifestyle through art. It was at a time when she was at a professional crossroads and seeking a more meaningful path.

When her partner’s sister mentioned a nun in Dallas who happened to do wax casting for her diocese, Reagan was intrigued enough to contact her for an apprenticeship.

“She gave me a block of wax and a file and said, ‘Start shaping something,’” remembers Reagan, who went to work on her first piece, a heart.

That started a 15-year collaboration: Reagan handling the public relations end while learning the trade, which included fabrication. She discovered what she loved most about being a bench jeweler was figuring out how things are made.

“That has always been my jam,” she said. “I love to build something, take it apart and reconstruct it in a different way.”

When Reagan started making her own pieces, she entered the art show scene, first at small, local events and later gaining admission to juried ones.

Today her line ranges from necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets to paper goods, stickers, book art giftables and hand-sewn pouches. She delights in the hidden treasures that often surprise buyers.

“There might be a cotter pin that pulls something apart that you didn’t see at first glance,” she said. “You only see it upon further inspection. That’s what lights me up.”

Reagan hopes her jewelry will empower the wearer to feel authentically herself. “I know so many people who lived trapped in the worlds they’re in,” she said.

Finding what we are passionate about is hard while rushing from Point A to Point B. Taking time to experience life, to wander and wonder, to connect with curiosity—that’s artful living.

Reagan invites you to stop by Reagan Hayhurst Designs at Rose Squared Art Shows this spring at Rittenhouse Square (May 8–10) and Brookdale Park (June 20–21).