ELY- The North Country’s natural environment has long fueled Cindy Bina’s artistic creativity and she’s used that inspiration in the designs that she’ll be featuring at this year’s Blueberry/Art Festival, which kicks off Friday morning at Whiteside Park.
Bina, of rural Ely, crafts jewelry using silver clay, one of several varieties of precious metal clay invented in the 1990s in Japan.
Precious metal clays contain microscopic bits of precious metals or their alloys mixed with water and a non-toxic organic binder. The binder bakes off when the clay is heated in a kiln, leaving a solid metal piece behind. This new medium allows a jeweler like Bina to craft detailed works without the expensive equipment and hazardous materials needed for lost wax or carved mold casting. Other than using precious metal clays, casting is the only way to create jewelry with delicate details and shapes.
For Bina, most of her jewelry designs come straight from nature, highlighting dragonflies, flowers, leaves, and many other natural themes. More recently she’s begun experimenting with other styles, including Art Nouveau, Medieval, and Victorian designs— and she also does custom work, which can vary significantly depending on the customer. No matter the style or the inspiration, it’s the satisfaction she gets from creating for others that continues to fuel her passion for her art.
“I get a lot of fulfillment from people being excited about wearing something I designed and made,” Bina said. “For me, making jewelry is very personal. A bit of my heart goes into everything I make. When I sell a piece to someone, a part of me goes out to that person.”
Bina’s custom work has focused on family and memorial pieces.
At the 2024 Blueberry/Art Festival, Bina will have a selection of earrings, necklaces, and bracelets, some of which incorporate semi-precious stones or leather. “Each piece is a one-of-a-kind creation,” Bina explained, “different than any other, with an artisan feel and organic charm.”

Second career
While Bina has artistic roots, she hasn’t always been a jewelry designer and artisan. Her father was a watercolorist, so she grew up knowing how hard it is to make a living in the arts.
She attended Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where she initially majored in art, with a focus on ceramics, but eventually changed her majors to psychology and religion, with her eyes on a career in counseling.
Bina completed a master’s degree in counseling from Northern Illinois University. Then, she and her husband Shawn moved to Ely in 1994 while she was pregnant with her first child. They moved into a house within walking distance of Burntside Lake and have been there ever since.
“We moved here so I could take a counseling job at Vermilion Community College.” Working at Vermilion was a family affair since Shawn taught math at Vermilion and later became its provost.
Bina planned to retire in 2019 after 25 years at the college. In 2017, she began looking for something to do I retirement. “I knew I wanted to do something artistic, but I wanted it to be completely different from anything I had done before.” Then she spotted a class on precious metal clays given over a weekend. She took the class and was hooked.
In 2019, Bina applied for and received a grant from the Gardner Humanities Trust for in-person instruction with a precious metals clay teacher in the Twin Cities. She said those lessons “opened the door” for her and she knew she wanted to pursue crafting in silver clay seriously.
Bina went on to increase her knowledge in silver clay jewelry with online classes, funded by two grants from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council in 2022 and 2023.
From hobby to business
After Bina started making silver clay jewelry, she soon passed the point where her production outstripped the confines of family and friends.
“I held a party at a friend’s house over the (winter) holidays in 2019,” Bina said, talking about her decision to start selling. “I called it my coming out party because I was coming out as a jewelry designer.”
Bina set up an Etsy shop online, where she sells her works under her company name, Natural Inspiration CB. She also began to sell at small local shows around the Ely area, like the craft shows which are frequently held at the Ely Senior Center. She also sells at Arts in the Park on Tuesday afternoons in Whiteside Park when she isn’t on the road selling at a larger show elsewhere in the region.
Bina and her husband Shawn started selling at larger events and festivals last year. Shawn sells decorative knives and other metalwork which he etches himself. The two share booth space for selling their wares.
Last year’s Blueberry/Art Festival was Bina’s first appearance at Ely’s biggest annual festival. This year, she’s at booth 163, on the Eighth Ave. side of the park.
You can also find her work at her Etsy shop at etsy.com/shop/NaturalInspirationCB, where she displays dozens of different jewelry designs at surprisingly affordable prices. If you miss her at this weekend’s festival, Bina’s jewelry is also sold Wintergreen Northern Wear on 205 E. Sheridan St.