Julie Rofman: Weaving Art Into Wearable Poetry
From Canvas to Cuff: An Artist’s Unconventional Journey
Julie Rofman’s hands have always been conduits for creation—whether painting sprawling abstract canvases, sculpting tactile forms, or, unexpectedly, threading thousands of beads into hypnotic geometric tapestries for the wrist. What began as a graduate school diversion—a bead loom picked up on a whim—became a lifelong obsession with color, precision, and the meditative rhythm of hand-weaving.
“I never plan a pattern,” she admits. “It’s like a conversation with the materials. Each bead tells me where to go next.”
The Rise of a Quiet Revolution
Early Days: Sold first pieces at Firefly (Venice, CA) and Fern’s Garden (Long Beach)—“Friends’ shops where I could experiment without fear.”
Mentorship: Designer Rory Beca guided her through the fashion industry’s labyrinth.
Global Recognition: From Barney’s New York to Tomorrowland Tokyo, her cuffs became quietly iconic—“Art you can wear to a board meeting or a beach in Bali.”
Inspirations: A Tapestry of Grandmothers, Gauguin, and Gucci Leopard Print
Creative DNA
Her Grandmother: “A tapestry wizard with a fearless color palette. She dressed like her art—bold, textured, alive.”
Travel: “The more I wander, the more my designs breathe.”
Artistic Pantheon:
Japanese Ukiyo-e masters (Hiroshige’s gradients, Hokusai’s waves)
Surrealist dreamers (Matta’s cosmic drips, Tanguy’s alien landscapes)
Bauhaus rebels (Klee’s playful geometry, Kandinsky’s chromatic symphonies)
Missoni: “For making zigzags a religion.”
Fashion Oracle
Kimball Hastings: “My college dormmate who wore Gucci leopard pants at night. Now he dresses Hollywood for Ralph Lauren—proof that audacity pays off.”
The Julie Rofman Woman/Man/Person
They’re:
Undercover maximalists (“A CEO might wear my cuff under a Tom Ford suit sleeve”)
Nomadic aesthetes (“Poolside in Mykonos or at a Tokyo jazz bar—these pieces adapt”)
Sparkle addicts (“Photos don’t capture how they catch light like shattered stained glass”)
Why Her Jewelry Transcends Trends
Handmade Hypnosis: Each piece takes weeks, bead by bead—no shortcuts, no repeats.
Artistic Integrity: “I treat wrists like miniature canvases.”
Quiet Versatility: “They’re meant to be discovered—like a secret between you and the wearer.”
Julie’s Little Black Book
Boutiques She Loves
Cameron Marks (Santa Cruz): “Where surfers buy art jewelry”
The Golden Bear (Vail): “Après-ski with a side of avant-garde”
Blue Tree (NYC): “A treasure cave for downtown poets”
Digital Inspirations
Design*Sponge: “For studio voyeurs”
Artinfo: “My morning art newspaper”
Julie Rofman’s work whispers a radical truth: creativity thrives when you surrender to the unexpected. Whether pulled from a grandmother’s embroidery hoop or a Kyoto silk market, her beads are tiny portals to a world where art and life clasp hands.
Discover the sparkle in person: Shop | Julie Rofman Jewelry
Follow her bead trails: Instagram
