A B O U T   L E E

   206 W. Market Street
   Charlottesville, VA 22902
   Tel: 434.295.3609
   Fax: 434.293.6617

   Photo by PPM Photography

In 1972, 25-year-old Lee Angelo Marraccini accompanied his wife Pam to the art studio in Washington, DC, where she was taking pottery classes. On a whim, he enrolled in a jewelry-making workshop. Within a year he and Pam had left their jobs as high school teachers, outfitted their GMC van with a bed and camp stove, and set out on a road trip through the United States and Mexico, during which Lee met jewelers around the country and refined his technique. In the summer of 1973 the pair landed at the Belles Artes San Miguel de Allende School of Art where, for $32 a month, they enrolled in a bohemian course of study that included drawing, ballet, guitar, and jewelry design.

By 1974 they were back on the East coast. Hard against the Allegheny Mountains in Paw Paw, West Virginia, they eked out a living farming organic vegetables while Lee put all his energy into making jewelry. He started Moondance Silver that year, and peddled rings and bracelets at craft shows around the country. Commercial success proved elusive. But Lee honed his inlay technique and became exceedingly skilled at shaping stones on the wheel. He sought out and studied under some of the country's top jewelers, including Heiki Seepe, Robert Ebendorf, Ivy Ross, James Meyer, and Ronald Hayes Pearson. His pieces became warmer, cleaner, and more linear; the foundation of a style that would eventually become synonymous with the Marraccini name. He was designing jewelry he loved-and that he felt people would buy.

Armed with new creations, Lee hit the craft shows more frequently over the next several years. Business grew. So did his relationships with other jewelers. Gabriel Ofiesh and a group from Charlottesville, Virginia, were especially encouraging. At the same time, Wild, Wonderful West Virginia was becoming a little too wild. When floods, isolation, and harsh weather sent Lee and Pam searching for a new place to settle, Pam suggested Charlottesville. They moved in 1984.

Lee continued to develop new designs. He studied intermediate and advanced stone setting at the Revere Academy in 1986. His pieces became stronger, yet retained a sense of playfulness. They reflected his theory that jewelry should be "serious fun" for the wearer. In 1998 he opened Angelo, a jewelry store in the Old Michie Building off Charlottesville's Downtown Mall.