Jude Sharp
Introduction:
Jude Sharp is a crafts person, an artist, a jeweler and a lesbian. She was born in November of 1947 in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania and has lived most of her live in Central PA. Jude opened her first jewelry shop at 21 with her ex-husband in Denver Colorado. After moving back to Central Pennsylvania Jude met her first girlfriend. Her current store, J.A. Sharp Custom Jeweler is located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Jude Sharp has crafted jewelry in her laundry room, dining room, and studios - anywhere she could create.
Early Life:
Jude Sharp grew up moving around between different towns in Pennsylvania following her father's job as a Methodist minister. Her mother worked from home raising Jude and her two younger sisters as well as performing the role of the minister's wife. Possibly influenced by moving around a lot as a kid or her budding queer identity, Jude recalls feeling like an outsider in her schools, "I always felt like an outsider but I don’t know whether that was because of me or because I was moving around I always sort of thought it was ‘cause of me." Jude graduated from the Philadelphia High School for Girls and has a high opinion of schools segregated by gender through high school. From there Jude attended Tyler College of Art in Philadelphia, a part of Temple University.
Jude Sharp is a crafts person, an artist, a jeweler and a lesbian. She was born in November of 1947 in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania and has lived most of her live in Central PA. Jude opened her first jewelry shop at 21 with her ex-husband in Denver Colorado. After moving back to Central Pennsylvania Jude met her first girlfriend. Her current store, J.A. Sharp Custom Jeweler is located in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Jude Sharp has crafted jewelry in her laundry room, dining room, and studios - anywhere she could create.
Early Life:
Jude Sharp grew up moving around between different towns in Pennsylvania following her father's job as a Methodist minister. Her mother worked from home raising Jude and her two younger sisters as well as performing the role of the minister's wife. Possibly influenced by moving around a lot as a kid or her budding queer identity, Jude recalls feeling like an outsider in her schools, "I always felt like an outsider but I don’t know whether that was because of me or because I was moving around I always sort of thought it was ‘cause of me." Jude graduated from the Philadelphia High School for Girls and has a high opinion of schools segregated by gender through high school. From there Jude attended Tyler College of Art in Philadelphia, a part of Temple University.
"...for me personally when I first got involved with Pat I felt like I had
such a huge weight lifted off of me, because it was like, I didn’t have to try to be something I wasn’t anymore. It was just like, “Oh my god, this is right, this has been right all along and it just took me all these years to figure it out,”
- Jude Sharp, Oral History, August 2016
Coming Out:
When asked about when she came out Jude talked about the freedom of realizing her identity as a lesbian woman when she began dating her first girlfriend. Jude also remarks on her regret at not discovering that aspect of herself earlier. Jude Sharp's youngest sister, Cate came out to their parents 3 years earlier than Jude. While her parents did not have the best reaction when Cate came out, by the time Jude was in a same-sex relationship and felt the need to come out they had settled in. Jude recollects what Cate said to her when she came out, "Wow, all I can say is that its about time." Jude says that her family was accepting of her sexual identity. Her father, a Methodist minister, went so far as to write an essay to present to other ministers debunking the idea that scripture was anti-homosexuality.
Coming Out:
When asked about when she came out Jude talked about the freedom of realizing her identity as a lesbian woman when she began dating her first girlfriend. Jude also remarks on her regret at not discovering that aspect of herself earlier. Jude Sharp's youngest sister, Cate came out to their parents 3 years earlier than Jude. While her parents did not have the best reaction when Cate came out, by the time Jude was in a same-sex relationship and felt the need to come out they had settled in. Jude recollects what Cate said to her when she came out, "Wow, all I can say is that its about time." Jude says that her family was accepting of her sexual identity. Her father, a Methodist minister, went so far as to write an essay to present to other ministers debunking the idea that scripture was anti-homosexuality.
Image: handcrafted necklaces and pendants by Jude Sharp. December 2021, photographs courtesy of Jude Sharp
History of Her Craft:
Jude Sharp was able to start working in a commercial jewelers right after graduating from Tyler College of Art, where she worked for about a year doing repair and assembly work. After that she worked part time on Jewelers Row at the same time she was making jewelry at home. She credits her early work experience with teaching her techniques of jewelry making and how to make it a career she could live off of. Jude opened her first jewelry store in Denver Colorado at the age of 21 after moving their with her ex-husband. Jude briefly lived in California with her then-girlfriend before returning to Pennsylvania in 1979. Starting then, she made prosthetic legs and other orthotics for 5 years, making jewelry in her dinning room whenever she could. Jude Sharp then opened Sharp Jewelers with her partner Sue Martin in the summer of 1984 in Lancaster. While their romantic relationship did not continue their business partnership did until they sold Sharp Jewelers in 2001. Jude's current store is named J.A. Sharp Custom Jewelers, which she sold to Andrea M. Amey in 2019. Jude continues to work there creating custom jewelry using responsibly-sourced stones from historic downtown Lancaster city.
Jude Sharp was able to start working in a commercial jewelers right after graduating from Tyler College of Art, where she worked for about a year doing repair and assembly work. After that she worked part time on Jewelers Row at the same time she was making jewelry at home. She credits her early work experience with teaching her techniques of jewelry making and how to make it a career she could live off of. Jude opened her first jewelry store in Denver Colorado at the age of 21 after moving their with her ex-husband. Jude briefly lived in California with her then-girlfriend before returning to Pennsylvania in 1979. Starting then, she made prosthetic legs and other orthotics for 5 years, making jewelry in her dinning room whenever she could. Jude Sharp then opened Sharp Jewelers with her partner Sue Martin in the summer of 1984 in Lancaster. While their romantic relationship did not continue their business partnership did until they sold Sharp Jewelers in 2001. Jude's current store is named J.A. Sharp Custom Jewelers, which she sold to Andrea M. Amey in 2019. Jude continues to work there creating custom jewelry using responsibly-sourced stones from historic downtown Lancaster city.
Image: handcrafted rings by Jude Sharp. December 2021, photographs courtesy of Jude Sharp
Advertisement for Sharp Jewelers. July 1999, courtesy of LGBT-009 Lavender Letter Collection, Dickinson Archives
Jewelry and Queerness:
Jude Sharp does not credit her identity as lesbian as a factor or influence in her pursuit of art, as a member of the LGBTQ+ community and an artist, her craft and queerness are inherently linked through her. In her life Sharp opened several different jewelry shops, as discussed above, it's notable that for Sharp Jewelry and JA Sharp Custom Jewelers, Jude opened both business in conjunction with her partner at the time. This is a relatively small detail, though notable nonetheless. Jude would often also go to pride celebrations and women's festivals to sell jewelry from a booth, and advertise in the Lavender Letter, a newsletter for the lesbian and Sapphic community in and around Central Pennsylvania at the time (see image).
Jude Sharp also remarks of the sense of community and love she felt when working with other members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Jude Sharp does not credit her identity as lesbian as a factor or influence in her pursuit of art, as a member of the LGBTQ+ community and an artist, her craft and queerness are inherently linked through her. In her life Sharp opened several different jewelry shops, as discussed above, it's notable that for Sharp Jewelry and JA Sharp Custom Jewelers, Jude opened both business in conjunction with her partner at the time. This is a relatively small detail, though notable nonetheless. Jude would often also go to pride celebrations and women's festivals to sell jewelry from a booth, and advertise in the Lavender Letter, a newsletter for the lesbian and Sapphic community in and around Central Pennsylvania at the time (see image).
Jude Sharp also remarks of the sense of community and love she felt when working with other members of the LGBTQ+ community.
