ROCK STARS BUILD CAREER WITH FAMILY LOVE
Jewelers celebrate 15 years of gold, silver, marriage
By Drew Simmons, Jackson Hole News, September 25, 1991

Eavesdrop on a conversation with Dan and Shelley Harrison, and you might never know that they are two of the region's most prominent jewelers.

Judging from a select few sentences the topic of conversation might be their family or the fine arts of painting and sculpting.

Discussing the business of jewels with words like "love," "life" and "endearment," they cite phrases like "inspiration begins at 6,000 feet," and "passion for perfection in an imperfect world," and they flash an occasional grin at each other which holds more than simple enjoyment of each other's company.

Despite the pair's propensity for metaphysical conversation, their down-to-earth life is celebrating its fifteenth year of business together. Coincidentally, they are celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary as well as the 15th birthday of their only child which is named DanShelley Jewelers.

"We've defied the odds of a couple working together," said Dan Harrison. "Being married and working together people always think that something's going to come along and blow things up."

In conjunction with their anniversary celebration, the DanShelley showcase is an elegant cornerstone in the downtown shopping area and is displaying a series of bronze busts by sculptor Trent Meyer in addition to the Harrison's unique gemstone arrangements.

Throughout the year, DanShelley displayed select pieces of Meyer's work, but for the next two weeks the gallery is showing his entire collection. Meyer's show includes the busts of "Pan" the infant chimpanzee, "Goldie" the golden retriever, "Arabian Prince" the Arabian stallion and "Trouper," ñ the life size bust of a male olive baboon.

The duo of Utah State graduates began their love affair with jewelry at the Park City Art Fair in 1976. That year, the pair married, displayed their first works and put down a first- and last-month deposit on a 300-square-foot retail space in the newly constructed Gaslight Alley.

Their spot was the last storefront available, and in it they housed their entire workshop as well as their display area. Their lives, they explain, revolved around the store.

"We'd have donuts and coffee in the morning and pizza brought in at night," said Shelley.

Gold, which is under $400 per ounce now, peaked above the $800 mark in the late seventies, restricting the duo to sterling silver work. However, through shrewd business sense and hard work they now attack the full realm of precious metals and gems.

"It was tempting to enhance our personal lives," said Dan of the fairly lucrative first years. "but we pumped it back into the business." Now at their home studio, the pair collaborates on the entire creative process. Calling the back-and-forth work "playing tennis," Dan and Shelly pour themselves into their jewelry. At any give time as many as 100 pieces of work could be on display at the shop.

"The fulfillment that somebody would experience with a child, we feel with a great piece," said Shelley.

With their workshop hidden away at their home, the storefront space is devoted to picturesque presentation, a forte of the husband/wife duo.

"It's not just a shopping experience, we're trying to do the whole ambience," said Shelley. "A lot of times, people are afraid to go into a jewelry store. We set it up like a kind of museum."

The celebration of their 15 years is only the beginning, explains Dan, because like the jewelry they build painstakingly, "We'll be here forever."