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Merriann Grant values friendships. Old friends have supported her as she made a drastic change in her life to pursue a hobby as a career. New friends continue to blossom with each piece of jewelry she constructs.

In 2001, Grant left the medical devices field to pursue her love of jewelry.

Although she had never created anything before, the Hempfield Township woman found her creative muse in gemstones. Her hobby quickly became a business by January of 2002. Soon after, another friend showed her work to Joan DeRose, the manager of The American Marketplace at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art. DeRose quickly agreed to sell her pieces, which are now among the gift shop's best-selling items.

Grant's relationship with the museum flourished and led to an exclusive line for the museum's gift shop. In return, the museum hosts trunk shows and workshops, where Grant shares her talents with the public.

The next workshop, which will be held Sunday, will demonstrate how Grant turns a few red garnet gemstones, pearl accents and sterling silver into a delicate piece of wearable art. The workshop is filled, but the public is welcome to attend the trunk show and enjoy refreshments while examining Grant's latest creations.

"Usually we do something very simple," says Grant. "This time we're making a garnet necklace."

Through the years, Grant always admired art and artistic expression. Her dream was to major in art, but her parents did not believe that was a practical idea. Instead she majored in physics at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Five years ago, her creative juices were awakened when a friend began making jewelry. Grant couldn't wait to make her first bracelet.

"It's an example of one of those things that resonates with you at the right time," says Grant.

Grant and her friend, who lives on the west coast, meet once a year in Tucson, Arizona. The desert town seems an unlikely gathering spot, but it is home to the biggest gemstone festival in the country. That is where Grant finds her special treasures.

"Tucson has an enormous gem show every February," says Grant. "The whole city is taken over by gem and precious metal dealers from around the world."

Grant returns home with enough stones to produce a year's worth of work.

"I come home with new and exotic things that I can't get here," she says, adding that the displays are greatly inspiring.

Lynn Martin of Unity Township has been a fan of Grant's work since the beginning. The women met through a mutual friend and now share a bond that goes beyond jewelry.

"I still have some of her original pieces," says Martin. "Merriann tells me not to wear them, that it's not good. I still like them. She's come a long way since then."

Martin estimates she has more than 50 pieces of Grant jewelry, enough to fill a jewelry box. Martin loves the uniqueness of each piece, and has commissioned Grant to make several special pieces.

The unique look of Grant's jewelry attracted Valerie Woods' attention when she was visiting the American Marketplace at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art.

"I like the variety of different colors of stones that she uses," says Woods of Hempfield Township. "They're always very delicate and the color combinations are always interesting. She's very creative with her color combinations."

When most people think of beaded jewelry, the clunky pieces favored 10 to 20 years ago come to mind. Grant's work is completely different. She chooses small beads that almost look too fragile to touch. Delicate strands of sterling silver or 14K gold hold them together. The bracelets look as if they are meant to float above the wrist, while necklaces seem to hover around one's neck.

"They're very delicate," says Woods. "They're very feminine."

That delicate look inspired DeRose to ask Grant to create an exclusive line for the museum. Each piece is inspired by one of the museum's paintings.

DeRose wants visitors to take home a memento, which will remind them of their favorite painting.

"We need to carry things that reflect our paintings," says DeRose. "I like the way she uses color. They're delicate, and yet they're bold. That's a hard thing to accomplish in jewelry. It's an elegant statement."

Grant enjoys the museum line and debuts new pieces every May and November.

"Every exclusive piece is inspired by a painting," says Grant. "I get to sit in the museum and see what inspires me. It makes a consistency of the jewelry and items in the museum."

Grant's work now inspires her two daughters, ages nine and 12, to see jewelry in a new light. The girls are starting to design their own pieces.

"They're very interested in what I'm doing," says Grant. "It's something that they're involved in now too."

The girls' involvement dates to the beginning when they helped to name Grant's company, Zippitydoodads. Grant's signature on each piece was a stone that dangled. That dangling stone reminded the girls of a the song, "Zippity-Do-Dah" from the Disney movie "Song of the South."

"My youngest daughter said it's a doodad and looks so happy. It's like that song," says Grant. "I'm now locked into making a doodad on every piece."

While Grant will never turn her back on jewelry, she is considering branching out into other areas.

"There's a lot of interest in quilts and handbags," says Grant. "But jewelry is far and away my biggest interest."

Grant's pieces range in price from $20 to $500 and are sold at The Mustard Gallery in Greensburg as well as the museum's American Marketplace.

"It bridges the gap between costume jewelry and heirlooms," says Grant. "They're beads in the sense that they are gemstones that are drilled in the center. They don't look like your mom's jewelry."

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