My name is Lezlie and I am a Jewelry Designer and Silversmith in New York. Caryn is my middle name. As told to me by my mom, I was named after “Leslie Caron”, a famous French actress of her day, so as a kid I always thought I would be famous. I was actually named after my Great-Grandma on my dad’s side.

Growing up I had no idea what I wanted to be. My mom was an artist who studied fashion design, and my dad handmade intricate models out of balsa wood. Grandpa, on mom’s side, was a Furrier for Bergdorf Goodman back in the day, and Grandpa, on dad’s side, was a mechanic with a garage and basement workshop elaborately decorated with tools and metals. I loved playing with Grandpa’s tools, many of which I have today. They felt very comfortable even in my small hands. Influenced by all this creativity, I knew that in order for me be happy in life, I had to “create” something.

As I got older, I was fascinated with the art and design of the ancients, the Renaissance Period and antique estate pieces and collectibles. Studying Period design became an obsession, and I often believed I was reincarnated from the Medieval Period. I became a Professional Stained Glass Artist and learned about color, texture and dimension. Staying with the Renaissance genre, I worked as a “Scribe”, a Calligrapher, and specialized in styles of script. Calligraphy taught me about fluidity and movement in design, however, I was still searching for my passion.