William Travis - Survivor, Designer, Warrior

Gem Junkies

Part III of the interview series from the Tucson AGTA Gem Fair. Jonathan and Brecken interview fellow designer William Travis Kukovich. Transforming his life from a traumatic childhood to becoming a recipient of 17 AGTA Spectrum Awards. 00:00:00 How the podcast started? 00:48:00 Introducing William Travis Kukovich 01:26:80 Want to see the scar? 01:56:00 So you were 4 years old. What happened? 04:44:00 You said your brain rewired itself. 05:28:00 I can sculpt anything 06:11:50 I don’t write, I draw words 06:34:20 5th generation metalsmith 09:05:00 Take us through your story 10:40:70 So after school, did you open up a store immediately? 13:32:30 At 26, Breast Cancer 18:39:50 Warrior rings 21:04:80 My kids 24:51:50 To live like you were dying 26:05:00 What inspired your first Spectrum Award piece? 27:47:00 First memory of jewelry/gemstone 29:56:00 Favorite Gemstone 30:29:00 Where does the inspiration come from when you’re creating Spectrum pieces 32:04:00 What comes first? Designer? Gemstone? 32:47:00 What makes a great designer? 34:23:50 Where are you now? 37:02.20 Where is this journey going to take you next? 39:45:50 Saying “YES”