Nancy's passion for metalsmithing began in her early twenties. She was captivated by the age old process of forming the metal directly with hammers. "The hammer is simply an extension of my hand..." Her exploration of the traditional smithing techniques, raising holloware and forging, started with traditional vessels forms. Soon she began to push the envelope both technically and visually, leaving the rotation form and functional form behind. Asymmetrical table top sculptures and wallpieces were a natural progression for her nature based aesthetic, "Natural forms have always fascinated and excited me: plant forms, earth forms, human forms."​Sculptural jewelry was the next step, taking the sculpture off the pedestal and putting it on the body. Nancy did a series of one of a kind sculptural bracelets over the course of two years in the mid 1980's. The tremendous success of this direction encouraged her to repeat the designs, adding earrings, neckpieces, and pins to her line of bracelets. She soon opened her own studio in coastal Maine and founded Nancy Linkin Fine Jewelry & Sculpture, which she owned and operated for over 30 years. In that time her line grew with over 80 different designs, each made in a variety of sizes, available in both a Sterling & 18K combination, bronze, and solid 18K gold. To create each piece, flat patterns are cut from sheets of gold and silver and hammered systematically over specialized tools. Once a piece has been hammered into its final form, it's filed and sanded, then buffed to a high polish. This fine finish accentuates the simple sculptural lines of her jewelry.In June 2019, Nancy passed away after a long fight with breast cancer. As was Nancy's wish, her longtime friend and employee Luke Sunde has continued to produce her designs so that others can be inspired by the natural forms and fluid grace found in her sculptural jewelry.