About Francesca Watson
Francesca Watson is a Texas transplant who originally hails from upstate New York. After stops along the way in Washington DC, Maryland, Virginia, California, Hawaii, and the Philippines, she and her husband Nick, a painter, finally settled for good in the Hill Country outside San Antonio. In 2006, after years working in administrative jobs, she took a bead stringing class with some girlfriends - and the rest, as they say, is history.
Francesca is a passionate and curious metalsmith and instructor whose work tends to be one-of-a-kind pieces or limited series rooted in her technical explorations. Although her interests and focus change often, she is currently intrigued by the contrast between earthy, organic elements and more refined or elevated components, especially as a metaphor for the increasingly complex roles and expectations imposed on women in American culture. Her recent work has highlighted heavily textured metals, cabochons paired with pearls and faceted gemstones, high karat gold, and keum boo, which is the ancient art of layering 24k gold over other metals.
Francesca began teaching metalsmithing in 2013, and has since been a guest instructor at local studios and major venues across the United States including BeadFest Philadelphia, BeadFest Santa Fe, the Bead and Button Show in Milwaukee, the Tucson Gem Shows, and the Glass Craft and Bead Expo in Las Vegas. She has also been a regular guest presenter for Halstead’s annual Jewelry Business Forum.
In 2016, she and her husband Nick, a painter, opened a working and teaching studio called The Makery in the Texas Hill Country outside San Antonio. In addition to teaching workshops at The Makery, Francesca is the founder of the Open Studio for Jewelry Makers online community, a group comprised of more than 5700 members from 81countries (as of spring 2024), and The Heart of the Maker, an innovative educational experience for jewelry makers which she co-teaches with metalsmith Jessica Cote (aka Rosy Revolver). Francesca’s work has been published in print and online in Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist magazine, and she has been a featured artist on Interweave’s Jewelry Artist and Tamara Honaman’s The Heart and Hands of a Maker podcasts.
In 2023, The Makery suffered a catastrophic electrical fire which destroyed the historic building in which it was located and took the life of its shop cat and mascot, Sterling. The international jewelry-making community rallied and, together with local vendors and suppliers, raised funds and made donations of time and services to rebuild the studio in its new location, fondly called The Barn. The Watsons live nearby on just over an acre of Texas dirt with a flock of chickens, two dogs, and a variety of wildlife that insists on eating everything. They have one grown daughter.