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Odessa Jewelry Designer Feels Pull Of Magnets

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By ELAINE MARKOWITZ

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 19, 2008

ODESSA - Artist Catherine Lawlar is elbow deep in magnets - small pieces of iron nestled among tiny silver or gold pieces or brightly colored beads.

The trinkets, arrayed on racks in the small studio in her Odessa home, will end up in necklaces, earrings, bracelets, anklets and rings.

The handcrafted fashion accessories may have a function beyond adornment. Lawlar said she believes the magnets have special properties, alleviating pain in various parts of the body. Her belief, she said, is based on testimonials, current research and her own experiences.

For a number of years, she worked in a Texas oil refinery and also drove a firetruck for the company. Beginning in the late 1980s, she spent 10 years selling colorful beaded necklaces, without magnets, on the streets of San Francisco.

Lawlar said she met a woman in 1997 with lupus who told her she went into remission wearing a magnetic necklace. The artist decided to try the magnets for her own back and knee pain, and it diminished considerably.

For information, call (813) 926-7036 or go to designermagnetic jewelry.com.

Keyword: Magnetic jewelry, for an audio slide show on Lawlar's jewelry.

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