“I’ve been happy ever since (I quit my old jobs),” he said. “I wasn’t happy doing that stuff. It was a job, and that was about it.”

Currently, some of Davis’ work is being sold at the Lansing Art Gallery’s Holiday Art Market, 119 N. Washington Square, in Lansing. The sale, which is open from Nov. 18 through Dec. 23, features art from about 150 Michigan artists, including jewelry, paintings and sculptures.

Catherine Babcock, who is the art gallery’s executive director and familiar with Davis’ work, said it has become very popular throughout the about 20 years he has been selling it at the market.

“He has a very large following of people who purchase his jewelry at the gallery and who have been wearing his jewelry for many years,” she said.

Davis uses mainly sterling silver and also incorporates stones such as onyx and amber into his pieces, taking inspiration from various sources such as African and Native American culture.

“I’m influenced by almost everything I see,” he said.

Davis said he now has clients who tell him they are able to see strangers on the street and recognize when they are wearing Davis’ work.

“For an artist, that’s a wonderful compliment because it says that you have your own voice, and it is distinct,” he said.

East Lansing resident Barb Cleland came to the Holiday Art Market on Tuesday, looking for gifts for friends and family, but was side-tracked when she saw Davis’ work.

Although she was not familiar with the artist prior to her visit to the gallery, Cleland said she found his work intriguing and started looking for something to purchase for herself.

“I thought it was very pretty,” she said. “I like some of the detail on the earrings in particular.”

Prior to committing himself full-time to making and selling his jewelry, Davis worked several other jobs, including being a teacher and working as an entrepreneur.

It was as an entrepreneur, when Davis was buying and selling other people’s belongings in his store, that he received his wake-up call.

He often received broken jewelry to be sold in his shop and found enjoyment in fixing it, which led him to realize he was in the wrong profession.

“I found I had a knack for fixing (the jewelry) rather than sending it back or taking the loss,” Davis said. “That’s when all these unrelated things started to come together.”

With a grandmother who was a seamstress and a father who was a molder, Davis said he grew up in a family where working with one’s hands and creating things was the norm — Davis did not start wearing store-bought clothing until he started school and still sleeps beneath a quilt his grandmother made him to this day.

He said it was his appreciation for homemade goods and his love for drafting that eventually helped steer him in the direction of jewelry making.

“I had that kind of home experience, and then I was blessed to have a wonderful drafting teacher in high school,” he said. “It’s kind of a cosmic come-together of forces.”

Babcock said Davis’ unique character and life experiences, along with his high-quality products, make him so successful.

“Some of it’s his personality,” she said. “His work is very polished, (and) it’s very professional. It’s a unique style we don’t see any other jewelers making.”