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Artist Feels Magnets' Pull

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By ELAINE MARKOWITZ

The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 13, 2008

ODESSA - Catherine Lawlar, jewelry maker, is elbow deep in magnets - small pieces of iron nestled among tiny silver or gold pieces or brightly colored beads.

The trinkets, arrayed on racks in the small studio in the artist's Odessa home, will end up in eye-catching necklaces, earrings, bracelets, anklets and rings.

The handcrafted fashion accessories may have a function beyond adornment. Lawlar said she believes the magnets have special health properties, alleviating pain in various parts of the body. Her belief, she said, is based on testimonials, current research and her own experiences.

The artist came to her passion unexpectedly, having adventure on her mind rather than jewelry. For a number of years, she worked in a Texas oil refinery and also drove a fire truck for the company. Beginning in the late '80s, she spent 10 years selling colorful beaded necklaces, without magnets, on the streets of San Francisco.

A casual encounter in 1997 sold the blooming jewelry maker on the benefits of magnets.

"I met a woman with lupus who said she went into remission wearing a magnetic necklace," said Lawlar, who then decided to try the magnets for her own ailments.

Suffering from severe back and knee pain, Lawlar put on a magnetic necklace, bracelet and anklet and said her pain diminished considerably. She continues to sport the jewelry.

Lawlar pulled out an album one recent morning filled with letters she has received from clients over the years. Satisfied customers claimed relief from pain in their backs, ankles, hips and necks. Others said their headaches had gone away.

Lawlar said the jewelry is crafted with pets in mind, as well as their owners. Her formerly lackluster, 12-year-old dun-colored basset hound, Barney, sports four magnetic necklaces around his neck.

"He's much more agile with the necklaces on," she said one recent morning. "He can jump up and down on all the couches now."

Many potential customers are skeptical, Lawlar said, claiming relief is based on mind over matter.

She has addressed those critics, she said, by pointing out her success with animals.

"Dogs discount the placebo effect," she said. "They don't know they are wearing magnets."

She mentioned a customer's Chihuahua that walked on three legs because of a knee problem. In a matter of days after donning a magnetic necklace, the dog was walking on four legs.

The artist admitted that, so far, she relies mostly on testimonials and her own experiences, rather than on hard scientific evidence. She has looked at history and recent studies, though.

Magnet therapy appears to date to ancient Egypt, when magnets were used to ease muscle pain and stiffness. About 200 B.C., some evidence suggests, Chinese doctors used magnetic lodestones to balance the "qi," often translated as energy or life force flowing within the body.

Prominent research centers are currently studying the use of magnets and magnetic jewelry to diminish all types of pain. In 2007, the National Institutes of Health in Washington, D.C., gave a million-dollar grant to a physician in the school of nursing at the University of Virginia to study the use of magnets.

The Institute for Rehabilitation Research at Baylor University in Texas recently experimented with using magnets to relieve pain in those suffering from post-polio syndrome.

In recent years, research teams at Harvard University and at Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth, England, have had positive results from studies linking magnets and magnetic jewelry to diminishing pain. The Plymouth team appears to have had particular success in reducing arthritic discomfort.

For the skeptical, the ornamental strands of beads are still pretty fashion accessories, adornments for a woman's throat, wrist or ankle rather than a panacea for pain.

The jewelry, which incorporates semiprecious stones such as tiger eye and onyx, along with the small magnets, ranges in price from $10 for a ring to about $45 for a necklace.

"If anything breaks, I'll fix it or replace it," said Lawlar. "I stand behind my jewelry."

WHERE TO FIND IT

Catherine Lawlar displays her colorful wares at art shows and fairs throughout the state. In season, she is a regular at the Saturday morning market in St. Petersburg. She also has had exhibits in Dunedin, Sarasota and Punta Gorda. On Aug. 23 and 24, she will take her stylish strands of beads to a craft show at the Florida State Fairgrounds.

For information, call (813) 926-7036 or visit Lawlar's Web site, designermagneticjewelry.com.

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