Since she was a young girl growing up in India, Dr. Hema Patel, a neurologist at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa, has been fascinated by jewelry.
“Jewelry has always been my passion,” Patel said. “My mom was really into jewelry. Most Indians, we don’t have land to give to our grandchildren; we just pass on jewelry.”
A few years ago, while putting in long hours practicing medicine and feeling engulfed by her work, Patel decided she needed to broaden her horizons with a hobby. So she revisited her old passion and began creating her own jewelry pieces.
“My main life is in America, but I have a very close connection to India,” Patel said. ”I go back once a year and such. I decided every piece that I make should have something Indian and something American.”
Patel doesn’t sell her jewelry. She makes it for herself. So far, she has made around 15 different pieces. Each of them is unique and some have taken her multiple years to complete. She has a jeweler in India who occasionally recommends certain items for her to use, and she combines them with things she finds in the Midwest – from broaches and beads to fossils she found while on vacation in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. And if you also want to sell your jewelry, you may visit sites like https://www.windsorjewelers.com/estate-jewelry-services-nyc to find the best deals on your items.
“I think they’re beautiful, but I’m not sure what (others) would think,” she laughed. “It just gives me such a sense of pride. In India, if you’re doing well in school you don’t really let your other creative sides expand. If I would’ve grown up in America, maybe I would’ve done something more artsy.”
