One might assume an artist chooses a solitary path. A painter sketches a landscape alone in a studio. A solo musician quietly practices violin. A writer hunches over a computer, birthing their next novel.
The path each has selected – or been called to – places them distant from other people.
Or does it? Perhaps not always.
“Working at my bench with music playing in the background is my happy place,” artist Liz Bucheit readily admits. But she is far from isolated.
Liz, born in Decorah, Iowa, now a resident of Lanesboro, Minnesota, is an artist, a goldsmith, and an award-winning designer of exquisite jewelry. Liz is also a lover – and a builder – of community.
“Community is absolutely essential for all creatives,” she says. “Connecting with other people is part of how artists learn and find our inspiration.”
Liz graduated from the University of Iowa with a Master of Arts in Metalworking and Jewelry, and went on to develop her craft in Iowa, Minneapolis, New York, California, and even Japan, managing a jewelry department of a major department store. She eventually came back to the Midwest, establishing her own business, Crown Trout Jewelers, in 1996 in Lanesboro (and moonlighting as a jewelry expert on ShopNBC in Minnesota from 2010 to 2014).
At Crown Trout, Liz designs gorgeous pieces of jewelry for local and national clients, and even for celebrity musicians, like Cher and Prince. Recently, another famous prince received a piece of Liz’s artistry: the Crown Prince of Norway.
“I had the singular honor to be commissioned by Vesterheim Norwegian American Museum to create a gift of jewelry for Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon and his wife, Princess Mette-Marit,” she says. “I made a blue topaz necklace for her, and a matching lapel pin for him.” Her gifts were presented to His Royal Highness on the occasion of his early October 2025 visit to Decorah, Iowa.
Liz has an entire Norwegian collection of jewelry, inspired by trips to Vesterheim Museum as a child, as well as many trips to Norway over the years. During those trips to Norway, Liz worked with different artists, creating strong bonds both professionally and personally. She is now the designated American affliate for Sylvsmidja, Norway’s leading jewelry brand.
“People in America needing traditional silver bunad jewelry repair would normally have to send their jewelry back to Norway,” Liz says. “Now they can have me do that work here. It gives me wonderful opportunities to meet people from all over.”
And these days, visitors to Vesterheim’s National Norwegian-American Museum can find themselves inspired by Liz’s own work. The museum recently purchased Liz’s Freya’s Tears Brooch for its permanent collection. The brooch is currently on view in the Past, Present and Future of Traditional Folk Art exhibition through January 2026.
Creativity, hard work, and special honors have given Liz a busy and multifaceted life. A favorite way she connects with others is through teaching.
“Teaching allows me to share my art by passing it along to others,” she says. “I also find I learn so much from my students! I greatly enjoy the fellowship and the interconnectivity that happens when people create together. We help each other. We also exchange stories and build friendships. When people of different ages do these kinds of activities together – adults, children, grandparents – that can be really special.”
She has taught for decades at the North House Folk School in Grand Marais and regularly leads classes and workshops at the American Swedish Institute and at Norway House, both in Minneapolis. She is actively involved at Vesterheim in Decorah, often instructing in classes there, too. And in recent years, she has begun to offer classes in partnership with Lanesboro businesses, including popular small group workshops (where pre-registration is required) at Sylvan Brewery.
“On a Sunday afternoon we’ll have about a dozen people making Saami-inspired, four-braid color bracelets,” she says. “All skill levels and always fun.”
Liz much prefers in-person classes over online ones. In person, folks can literally connect with each other, both in class and in the future. “You’ll often see people staying after class is over just to talk,” she says. “You can watch community forming and growing in settings like that.”
Of all the communities Liz enjoys and is helping to build, none are more meaningful to her than her local connections. Her husband, Michael, has established his own marketing business in Lanesboro, and the couple lives and shares studio and workspace in their historic building right downtown.
Last fall, Lanesboro Arts – located less than half a block away from the Crown Trout building – created a gallery exhibit of Liz’s personal work. Titled “Hand of the Huldra: The Silver Filigree Jewelry of Liz Bucheit,” the exhibit featured contemporary pieces evoking the spirit of Norwegian “Huldra,” mystical forest spirit-creatures of Scandinavian folklore.
Dozens of Liz’s friends and supporters from far and wide came to the exhibit’s opening reception.
“It was wonderful!” Liz says. “To have Lanesboro Arts create that exhibit was a heartfelt validation of my art by so many people who mean so much to me. Next year will mark 30 years that I’ve been living and working in Lanesboro. Some people think a small town with a population of less than 750 people wouldn’t be a place to do what I’ve done. But this community has been so supportive of me as an artist and of my business.”
Liz Bucheit. Individual artist, yes. Community builder, certainly. “Intentionally connecting with other people is a vital piece of all that I do, and all that I am,” she says. “I am very thankful.”
Steve Harris
Steve Harris (sharris1962@msn.com) is a freelance writer who lives in Lanesboro with his wife, Sue, proud wearer of a Saami-inspired bracelet she created in one of Liz’s classes!
To learn more about the art of Liz Bucheit, and about her upcoming schedule of classes, visit crowntroutonline.com
Sign up for a Winter 2026 Saami Inspired Bracelet Class at Sylvan Brewery in Lanesboro, MN here!
