PHOTOS: Local Jewelry-Maker and Metalsmith Shows Work in Gallery

One of Casper's local jewelry makers and metal-smiths is showing her work in a gallery at the Casper College in the Music Building, room 101. It's available from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. five days a week until mid-May.

Laura Hunter wrote in an artist statement that her jewelry career started when she opened her own business in 2011.

She taught herself the craft, taking a few metal-smithing classes through Casper College and traveling to specialty classes around the U.S.

She teaches jewelry classes locally and loves watching the look on people's faces when they realize they can make something with their own hands.

The collection at the college is called discover.

It's "a pretty little reminder that you get to direct your life. You get to decide where you're going. That you won't discover anything by staying inside your comfort zone.

"Discover is a reflection of my own personal journey, which has been filled with unexpected twists and turns that ultimately feeds into self-realization.

"This journey has opened my eyes to the power of internal validation, allowing me to discover and explore potential within. The idea of internal validation has become a key part of my identity - a compass that guides me as an individual as well as through life's many journeys.

"As you explore this collection, I hope that the emotions reverberate through your being as strongly as they did for me" wrote Hunter in an artist statement.

See more of Hunter's work here.