In the near future, Winders plans to team up with local nonprofits and will donate a percentage of sales on specific collections to conservation groups.
Spring Winders took a jewelers metalsmithing class in college, graduated in 2006 and didn’t make any more jewelry for the next eight years.
But while working in the food service industry, she decided it was time for a career change.
“I remembered enjoying metalsmithing so I decided to take a metalsmithing class at Pima Community College — just a refresher to see if I liked it,” she says. “And I was really into it, so I decided to pursue that.”
She slowly saved up money to buy her own equipment and in 2014, she started her shop Heliotrope. Winders now sells desert-inspired jewelry.
“I get a lot of the inspiration for the designs from the desert, plants, animals and also the monsoons,” she says. “I make things that I would want to wear myself and I like the desert a lot.”
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Winders also sells bolo ties. She says: “I’m kind of trying to give bolo ties a modern twist and make them more accessible to all genders and not just for dress up — you can wear them with tank tops. And I’m doing my own take on this classic Southwestern style.”
Much of Winders’ jewelry is made with metal, sometimes with a crystal or stone to add some color or variation in texture.
