Hi, I’m Julia, the artist behind Vottovara Jewelry.
I create one-of-a-kind wire wrapped pendants inspired by nature and the unique beauty of natural stones. Each piece is made entirely by hand in my workshop.
For me, jewelry is not just decoration — it is a small piece of art that carries a story.
My creative journey
How It All Began
In 2016, I was introduced to the Wire Wrapping technique for the first time. I had no formal art education, so I taught myself by studying tutorial videos on YouTube. I literally watched every available video, striving to master the technique.
In 2018, realizing my lack of certain skills, I enrolled in the “Filigree” course at the Jewelry Craft School in Saint Petersburg. This knowledge allowed me to create more boldly and bring to life the visions that come to me.
The Journey in Numbers
By my calculations, as of March 2026, I have been practicing Wire Wrapping for 12,000 hours.
Since 2016, I have created more than 1,200 unique pendants, which have found their way into collections in 27 countries around the world.
Where My Designs Come From
Inspiration for a pendant can come from many places: a landscape, a plant, an insect, an animal, or the stone itself. When I hold a mineral in my hands, its energy often suggest the form that will grow around it.
Sometimes a design appears in my dreams. I wake up remembering the shapes and later bring that vision to life with wire and stone.
Inspiration can also come from people. When someone commissions a piece and shares the story behind it a special moment, a gift, or a personal symbol it often becomes the starting point of the design.
A Few Facts About Me
1 — I was born in the USSR.
2 — Before I begin making a pendant, I meditate with the stone in my hand and only start working once it has given me permission to create its setting.
3 — Vottovara images often come to me in dreams.
4 — My great-grandmother was a witch, and everyone in the village went to her for fortune-telling.
5 — I’ve loved moss since childhood.
Julia P.
Why the Name Vottovara
Every artist eventually faces the same question: what should the work be called?
For many years, the jewelry I created had a simple name — “My Gem.”
From 2016 onward, that was how people knew my work. But over time I began to feel that the name no longer reflected what my jewelry had become. I was searching for something more — a name that would carry its own atmosphere and continue to inspire me while I worked.
The answer came from a place that had been with me since childhood.
The name Vottovara is inspired by a mysterious mountain in the north of Russia, known for its ancient stones and mystical atmosphere. As a child, I spent a lot of time in northern forests among pines, spruces, moss, and quiet болотные landscapes. The name of that mountain was something I had known and remembered since those early years.
In 2024, my work received a new name — Vottovara.