In loss, a jewelry designer finds her calling: Fusion Glass Art hosts a 'show-stopper' direct from Bali

Fusion Art Glass Gallery at Seaside will kick off the holiday shopping season Thanksgiving weekend with jewelry designer Carolyn Tyler.

Based in Bali, Tyler collects gemstones from all over the world, along with ancient coins and beads from Europe and Asia and South Sea pearls.

Her designs have caught the eye of celebrities such as Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson, both of whom she designed pieces for.

“Her pieces are unique. You can see the difference in hers,” said Gina Poe, Fusion's general manager.

Tyler's career as a jewelry designer came about through strange twists of fate, which she credits to divine intervention or the supernatural control of the universe.

“I always had the artist in me, but I didn't know it. I have always loved things that sparkled,” she said. She recalls, when as a little girl, she would throw her mother's jewelry into the swimming pool so she could dive to recover them, mermaid-style.

However, Tyler's parents weren't keen on the idea of a starving artist for a daughter and convinced her to study something other than art in college. The compromise reached was archeology and anthropology. She never worked in those fields, though, as she feared getting her nails dirty.

Moving a step closer to the creative realm, Tyler returned to school so she could work in graphic design and advertising. She worked for Kinko's before opening her own ad agency in Santa Barbara, Calif.

The fateful incident that propelled Tyler closer toward her present career, however, was her purchase at age 20 of an opal pendant necklace that she fell in love with but couldn't afford. It took her two years to repay the loan.    

“It was the one thing I owned that I would go into a burning house for,” she said.

The pendant was stolen from her and in her sorrow, she began trying to recreate the piece.  

However, each time Tyler recreated the pendant, people she encountered wanted to buy it from her.  

“So, I began to think, 'maybe there is enough of a demand for creating this type of jewelry.' My jewelry business was started through my trying to replace what was stolen from me,” she said. “It turned into a great business.”

She opened a store in Santa Barbara and became friends with Goldie Hawn through her creations.

One day, a former co-worker walked into her store. As they talked and Tyler explained how she came to be in the jewelry business, the former co-worker became very interested in the details of the stolen pendant. Through a series of events, Tyler's opal pendant had ended up in the former co-worker's possession, unbeknownst to her.

She returned the pendant to Tyler, who never takes it off to this day.

“There are no odds for something like that happening,” Tyler says now. “So many things in the universe lined up to return what was stolen from me 15 years later. In the meantime, though, I took lemons and made lemonade.

It was a bad thing that turned into the best thing that ever happened to me. There are no odds for something like that.”

Tyler now creates heirloom-type pieces for others using ancient artifacts and goldsmithing filigree techniques, with up to 24 karat gold from her base in Bali, where she spends half the year.

“In Bali, it's a very different pace and lifestyle. There are a lot of religious ceremonies and they don't value work over spirituality. So, production is on the low side,” she said.

She only makes 400 pieces a year, as every piece is made by hand. But the Hindu culture inspires the artist.

“I am inspired by nature and music. The Hindu culture is an amazing culture - the fabrics, the ornamentation, everything is art there,” she said.

Tyler prefers gemstones possessing special qualities of light and reflection rather than flawless gems. She believes flawless gems have no spirit.

Her pieces sell for between $600 and $24,000.

“Her pieces have an unusual luster. They are show stoppers,” said Poe.