About Us
Elements, Ltd.
Designer Jewelry, Fine Metal Art, Other Treasures
Since 1995, Elements, Ltd. has provided a niche for customers seeking to express their
individuality with wearable art without breaking their budgets.
Elements, Ltd. is a working studio and gallery located in the Shops at Roosevelt on 42nd Street just north of I-235 in Des Moines, Iowa and a part of the state-certified Roosevelt Cultural District. Elements, Ltd. not only features the handmade original jewelry and metalwork of its own four studio artists/goldsmiths, but also the contemporary jewelry and accessories of other Iowa and nationally recognized artists.
Each item for the gallery is carefully selected for high quality craftsmanship and creativity. Materials range from gold, silver and platinum to specialty metals like mokume-gane, Damascus steel, titanium, and others. Diamonds and colored gemstones are featured in much of the work, and most pieces are either one-of-a-kind or limited edition.
As a studio, Elements, Ltd. offers services such as custom designing, reworking precious family jewelry, cleaning and polishing, gem and diamond setting, and creating tableware. Our staff members are well-educated, personable professionals with degrees in art from Iowa State University, Indiana University and Grinnell College and with many years of experience.
Elements, Ltd. Artists
Marta Jones-Couch is an owner and goldsmith working in the jewelry field for almost 40 years. She has both retail and trade shop experience, and has been working in a creative milieu for more than twenty years. Marta loves curves and they are evident in all of the work she produces. Marta is the studio manager.
Melanie Parks is an owner and goldsmith who graduated from Iowa State University with a BA in Craft Design in 1981. She has taken on the administration of Elements, Ltd. while keeping her hand in the creative process by designing jewelry, designing the display cases, and by creating the basic format for our advertising.
Sheena Thomas is an owner and goldsmith with over 30 years experience teaching and working in the field. Sheena has a BA in Studio Art from Grinnell College and earned her MFA in Jewelry Design & Silversmithing from Indiana University in 1975. Sheena enjoys raising and forging, casting and enameling, and her work is mostly sculptural, angular, and asymmetrical. Sheena photographs all studio work.
Mark Grgurich was a goldsmith with more than twenty years of experience, much of it in a trade shop. He graduated from Iowa State University in 1985 with a BA in Art & Design. From October 2000 until his untimely death on August 30, 2009, he was enjoying the chance to use his inventive genius here at Elements, Ltd. Mark was killed while riding his bicycle on a county road near Des Moines. He was an expert cyclist.
