Karen Lorene

IN MEMORIAM 
Karen Lorene
(August 19, 1940 – July 15, 2025)

Karen Lorene, founder and owner of the influential and exciting Facèré Jewelry Art Gallery in Seattle for over 40 years passed away on July 15 th, 2025.

Karen was an educator, painter, writer, entrepreneur and a driving force in the field of art jewelry. She got her start in the 1970’s as a gallerist showing and selling antique jewelry.

Karen quickly became expert in the field and wrote “Antique Jewelry: Skipping the Mistakes,” became a member of the National Association of Jewelry Appraiser and the International Society of Appraisers, and shared her knowledge as an antique jewelry expert for the Antiques Roadshow US.

A few years after starting the antique gallery, Karen was introduced to art jewelry by renown Northwest makers such as Mary Lee Hu and Ramona Sollberg. She fell in love with contemporary art jewelry and Facèré moved to representing the finest in Northwest, US and International one-of-a-kind art jewelry. The gallery had special exhibitions at least four times a year, bringing in new artists often not currently represented in the gallery or exhibiting in the Northwest. The openings always included artists talks with images, champagne and a gallery packed with makers, collectors, educators, and even the intrigued passerby.

In 2004 Karen started Signs of Life, a yearly literary magazine that combined Karen’s two passions, art jewelry and writing. She chose 9 writers (essayists, novelist, poets) and 9 jewelry artists. The jewelers made a piece and then Karen paired them with a writer who wrote a short essay or poem influenced by the artwork. The writers were not allowed to write about the artwork itself. Facèré exhibited the jewelers in a concurrent show each year. The openings for Signs of Life included artists talks and readings by many of the writers. Signs of Life had 11 issues and remains unique in the art jewelry field.

Along with her work as the owner of Facèré Jewelry Art Gallery, Karen was on the board of the Society of North American Goldsmiths, and Artist Trust. In 2018, she was awarded The Artist Trust Creative Catalyst Award for her dedication and commitment to supporting individual artists and long-time involvement with Artist Trust. She was awarded Honorary Member status by the Northwest Designer Craftartists, as well, for all the years of dedication to the field. Karen’s passion for contemporary art jewelry, her devotion to promoting jewelry artists, and her inventive spirit are some of the many reasons she will be greatly missed.

In 2018 Facèré Jewelry Art Gallery was purchased by Green Lake Jewelry Works which has two stores, Seattle and Bellevue, WA.