BNOX Jewelry Studio
About BNOX Jewelry Studio
In the small village of Pepin, Wisconsin, and on the edge of the lovely, bluff-lined Mississippi, the husband-wife team of Rebecca Paquette Johnson and Ted Johnson have made their metal smithing dreams come true with the origin of BNOX Gold & Iron, starting in 1993. As life changed, so did the name; BNOX Gold & Iron is now BNOX Jewelry Studio.
It was five generations in Pepin that lured Ted Johnson, co-owner of BNOX, back to his homeland. His Great - Great Grandfather William Boyd Newcomb deeded the land of Pepin, Wisconsin in the late 1800's and settled to make a life here. His contributions as founder, captain, judge & clergy (practiced simultaneously) went on to influence and inspire many generations after him. William B. Newcomb was the steamboat captain of the Clyde, a paddle wheeler, which serviced primarily the timber industry. 
His great - great grandson, Ted Johnson, Rebecca and family renovated the original BNOX Gold & Iron building in Pepin and then went on to build a second studio where BNOX Jewelry Studio resides today. In the early years Ted created ironwork for BNOX and tended to customers, but over the years, children and changing interests find Ted now dabbling in it. In retirement, he hopes to combine both skills of metalwork and woodworking to build boats. Clearly, this interest follows the Newcomb bloodline.
Rebecca attended University of Wisconsin Stout in the Art and Design Program where her skills of design and metal smithing began to gain momentum. After a few years of working for others, Rebecca opened BNOX in Pepin and enjoyed many years of representing many other fine jewelers and artists. Following a "pause" in jewelry-making to tend to the gallery and raise their three boys, Rebecca is again focusing on her own metalwork through BNOX Jewelry Studio—and is loving it!
These days, she can often be found in her studio/gallery, feeding her creative processes and finding inspiration in neighborhood foliage along the Mississippi River valley, that has led to jewelry in more recent collections which evokes the power and mutability of nature and water.