Andy's exploration into metalwork began in Brooklyn with renowned designer Kristin Hanson, where his natural inclination for design and bursting expression finally found its discipline. While having gained further experience in Portland, Oregon with Gunnar Adamovics, it was under the tutelage of William ("Billy") Thomas King at the Sterling Quest School of Jewelry Design and Creation (San Miguel De Allende, Mexico) that Andy made his greatest strides in metallurgy, graduating in 2008. From his youth, Andy has approached history with imagination, romanticism, and caring, owing to the colorful and incredible stories of his own family. His tireless search for unique and meaningful items with which to make art is as much a characteristic of his work as the pieces themselves. It is this appreciation and awareness of the histories of his materials that enhance their efficacy as personal pieces of art. As his work progresses, Andy continues to discover new ways to combine his artisan style with raw elements such as reclaimed metals, wood, and bone. Comprised of these materials, his jewelry creates an appeal not solely focused on aesthetic value, but based heavily upon the indelible spirit of powerful organic forms. From more functional adornments to fashionable and thought-provoking ornamentation, Andy creates pieces that symbolize the force that is the natural world while articulating a balance between old and new.Lifschutz uses only domestic materials and reclaimed metals and seems to have a hippie ethos for design (our words). He loves to collaborate with nature (his words) and cites summers spent by the sandstone cliffs and beaches of Santorini as inspiration.