Alisha and Marty at the Mountain View Art and Wine Festival 2019
Marty Magic is run by Marty and Alisha, a mother-daughter team. We create our unique designs in our Santa Cruz, California studio and in our Tomball, Texas studio. Our jewelry is made in America. Our jewelry is created by the lost wax process and is cast in bronze, sterling and 14K and 18K gold. Fantasy and the magic of nature are our muses.
Marty has been designing and making jewelry for over 45 years and Alisha has inherited both her mother’s talent and her entrepreneurial spirit. They have a small team of talented people who work with them in helping to bring their designs and creative visions to fulfillment.
Marty at a festival 1976
Marty at work 2007
“I started my business over 40 years ago in the summer of 1978, selling my jewelry at Bay Area Art and Wine Festivals.
I grew up in Southern California; the only child of a scientist father and an artist mother. My father was chairman of the geology department at UCLA, and subsequently at UCSB. I traveled extensively with my parents when my father was doing research, mapping or lecturing abroad. I’ve lived in a chalet in Austria; in an adobe cottage at the edge of the Salton Sea, California; on a farm outside of Edinburgh; in a thatched cottage in Gilleleje, Denmark; and in Bogotá, Columbia. I continue to travel extensively and to find inspiration in the cultures and biodiversity of our planet.
I began making jewelry in high school, assembling beaded earrings and making copper enamel jewelry. My entrepreneurial spirt took shape early on and I took these pieces to school, pinned inside my notebook and sold them to my classmates. I graduated with a B.A. in Art from University of Redlands with a focus in ceramics and under the critical eye of Leon Moburg I took an introductory jewelry class. My early projects surprised us both and I was soon doing independent study and was asked to teach the beginning jewelry class the following year.
After graduation, I worked a number of waitressing jobs but continued making lost wax jewelry and cast my pieces in my garage studio. It wasn’t until the summer of 1978 when I drove with my husband Scott to show at a San Francisco street festival that my jewelry career unfolded. (Scott is now my ex but a close friend and Alisha’s father.)
Early on, I only sold my jewelry at art festivals and fairs in the Silicon Valley. As the tech industry grew, so did business (my thanks to all my geeky patrons and my techie husband, Art.) In 1995, Art helped me enter the digital age by launching my first website, which has become a significant venue for sales.
In 2010 my daughter, Alisha began working full time with me in the studio. Alisha, who was raised doing art shows, takes all the product shots and manages the office and is a wiz with our online venues. She has a natural aptitude for design and lends fresh creativity to our Marty Magic business. In every product description, we note if the design is one of Alisha’s or mine.
In addition to having our Marty Magic online shop we also have an Etsy shop and an Amazon shop. Because of Covid, I am no longer doing Bay area Art and Wine Festivals but thanks to our loyal collectors, the Maryland Renaissance Festival is still going strong after 40 years! In 2021 Alisha moved with her family to Tomball Texas and opened both a workshop and a shop at the Texas Renaissance Festival. With our unique designs and Alisha’s fresh visions, we look forward to many more years of creativity.” — Marty of Marty Magic.
Alisha wearing her Trilobite pendant
“Growing up, I watched my mother design jewelry and run her business. I was helping sell jewelry as soon as I was tall enough to see over the display cases. I was influenced by my parents’ hippy, artistic and geeky friends. Santa Cruz is just over the hill from the Silicon Valley where my Papa worked so there was an interesting mix of guests at the dinner table many nights.
I briefly studied fashion design at S.F.S.U. and then completed an AA in liberal arts and science. I have a supportive husband and am the proud and happy mother of two children. I began working with my mother full time in 2010. I love designing jewelry and seem to have inherited both my mother’s talent and her entrepreneurial spirit.
In 2021, my family moved to Tomball Texas and I set up a Marty Magic studio. I also built and opened a shop at the Texas Renaissance Festival and we are rapidly gaining collectors and growing our business.
Marty Magic now has two creative women working as a team to grow the business.” — Alisha of Marty Magic
Scotts Story -
Marty and Scott started their business together in 1978. They designed and made jewelry together, traveled the Art and Craft Show circuit and grew their business. Their daughter Alisha was raised behind their craft festival booth and even today, their business is truly a family affair.
Scott is Fantasy Jewelry and Marty and Alisha are Marty Magic but all three of them have their parts in design, production and sales. Covid derailed and changed much but in early 2021 Scott trucked machinery and inventory to Texas and helped Alisha to set up a second Marty Magic studio. Scott continues to do festivals and having their new Texas studio has its added perks as a mid way stop where Scott and his wife Shari can stay and work between shows and during the off season. The added perk is hugging the grandchildren. Scott’s wife Shari has her own line of jewelry and Scott and Marty continue to be best of friends.