About Us
My name is Kristina and my friends call me Stina. Walakwalak is butterfly in the Yakama native language. One of the first pieces of jewelry that I wore was given to me from my grandma and it was made by Steve Gunnyon, my cousin, an American Indian jewelry maker. It was a beautiful fire opal surrounded by silver with an oxidized background.
After high school I went into the military and into the dental profession where I would frequently go to the lab where they made the crowns and hang out. I love watching the lab technicians make gold castings. This is where I started my love for gold ,silver and jewelry. After leaving the military I continued my education at Monterey Peninsula College here in Monterey Bay where I took a metal arts class and that was all I needed to get me moving towards a life filled with the arts and jewelry.
The first piece I ever cut out of silver was a feather. I remember thinking “wow this is my first piece of jewelry." I decided to open a jewelry store here in town named Stina Witt Gallery. After a couple years, I decided to close my shop, as my ever-growing family decided to move to the Republic of Panama. We wanted our daughters to learn the Spanish language at Origen. I stopped making jewelry while living there because I had a coffee shop called Panama Roasting Co. and I started to take the tourist on visits to the local coffee growing plantation/fincas. I bought a coffee roaster and started to locally source and roast my own coffee. Coffee is still a passion of mine but since returning to the states, I’ve picked up my sauder, my flux, my silver and torch, and have been making jewelry ever since.
I’ve lived most of my adult life on the Monterey Peninsula in a town named Carmel where the beach is a mile away, Big Sur is 20 miles away and San Francisco is two hours North. It's a beautiful, inspiring place to be and I love it here.
Contact Us
1 (831) 917-0025 // stinamiller@ymail.com