Betty Cooke, 97, grew up in Baltimore and has been designing and selling her hand-made jewelry here for decades. She continues to sell her work at The Store Ltd. in Cross Keys, and has a retrospective exhibit of her jewelry at the Walters Art Gallery until January 2, 2022. Photo by Mike Morgan

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When artist Betty Cooke was a young girl growing up in Baltimore, she visited the Walters Art Gallery with her father. The museum’s gleaming medieval armor collection fascinated her at age 10.

“I loved the details of the different colored metals coming together. They had such beautiful forms,” said Cooke, now 97, in an interview with the Beacon.

Cooke went on to create jewelry for seven decades, and today her work is the subject of an exhibit at the Walters.

In a show titled “Betty Cooke: The Circle and the Line,” the Walters will display 160 of Cooke’s creations until January 2, 2022, from her earliest designs in the 1940s and 1950s to the present.

Cooke sees her show as “a pretty amazing opportunity. My work is unusual for them, to show a living craftsman there [along] with Egyptian gold and Russian enamels. I don’t belong here. Normally, I’d have to wait a million years, and then it would be good. I’m honored.”

Simple makes a statement

Largely self-trained, Cooke uses materials like silver, gold, metal tubing, enamel and wood, as well as gemstones like lapis lazuli, onyx, opals and quartz.

Her modernistic pieces, designed around a circle or a line, reflect her guiding principle: Less is more.

“I like the simplicity of what you can do with a few pieces of wire,” Cooke said. I don’t clutter up the piece. I keep it simple.”

Lead curator Jeannine Falino admires Cooke’s “emphatic geometry” and “imaginative use of materials.” Her work is simple yet elegant, and the possibilities are infinite.

“What can you do with a circle? What can you do with one line?” Cooke asked. “I could spend all year on that, oh my goodness. A line is a very important thing.”

According to one of the show’s panels, Cooke’s circles are “scattered…along necklaces as far-flung elements in a galaxy, or set…at right angles to create three-dimensional sculptures for the hand.”

In addition to her jewelry, the exhibition includes Cooke’s drawings and design sketches and a display of jeweler’s tools.

“Each piece is a profound lesson in how to see,” observed Ellen Lupton of the Maryland Institute College of Art, Cooke’s alma mater.

Nature as inspiration

Raised as a camper and Girl Scout, Cooke continues to be inspired by the outdoors. In college in the 1940s, she hitchhiked all over Nova Scotia. She loves the “wild coast” and spends time on Maryland’s Atlantic Ocean beaches.

“I like storms and big waves, when the wind’s blowing like mad,” she said.

Her love of the natural world is reflected in much of her jewelry. For example, a neck piece might have tiny stars.

She has also made fanciful animal pieces, especially fish and birds, using silver, copper and enamels. (She’s a member of the Maryland Ornithology Society.)

A Baltimore native

Cooke graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1946 and later taught art there for 22 years.

In 1965, she and her husband, William O. Steinmetz, an interior designer, moved from their Tyson Street studio to the Village of Cross Keys and opened The Store Ltd., at 5100 Falls Road, where she still works today. Her husband passed away in 2016.

In addition to selling Cooke’s jewelry, The Store offers  housewares, gifts and women’s clothing with a modern aesthetic.

She has had many returning customers over the years. “It’s wonderful,” Cooke said, “to now see the second and third generation coming in. It has become a family thing for many families. It just grew because people liked it,” she said.

Cooke’s jewelry has been featured in Vogue magazine and she received two Diamonds Today awards from DeBeers Group’s jewelry competition.

In 1996, she was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Craft Council. Art historian Toni Greenbaum calls her an “outstanding exemplar of the American limited-production jeweler.”

Cooke continues to work as an artist at age 97, and except for a little trouble walking, she is in good health. Curator Jo Briggs said Cooke isn’t slowing down. “She’s part of the fabric of Baltimore. She’s a force. COVID is not stopping her.”

After seven decades of design, “I think in terms of jewelry,” Cooke said, “but jewelry is also sculpture that can be done on a large scale.”

On the exacting simplicity of her designs, she said, “One must know when to stop.”

So far, she’s not stopping.

The exhibition is curated by Jeannine Falino and Jo Briggs, authors of an illustrated book about Cooke’s work.

The Walters Art Museum at 600 North Charles Street has a collection spanning 7,000 years and includes over 36,000 objects from around the world. Admission is free. Masks are required indoors. Visit thewalters.org.