Steph Lusted grew up in Waikanae and Palmerston North in the 1980s and began her training in the visual arts at Manawatu Polytech before attending and graduating with a Diploma in Visual Arts from Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology, Nelson in 1998.
She worked as a jeweller and designer in NZ and Australia, exhibiting in a number of group and solo shows around New Zealand.
She attended a Mastercraft Workshop with German jeweller Karl Fritsch in 2001, and after learning German, in 2002 she was awarded a Creative New Zealand Creative and Professional Development grant to study in Germany. This research trip saw her tour six jewellery institutions, and take part in an international jewellery symposium.
During 2002, Steph was one of the artists interviewed and featured on the television project "The Big Art Trip".
In 2003 she was awarded a Goethe Institute Scholarship towards a four week German language course.
She continued her German studies, and was awarded a Creative New Zealand grant, this time to study jewellery in Germany. In 2004 she was accepted into Goldschmiedeschule mit Uhrmacherschule (Goldsmithing school), Pforzheim, Germany, and graduated from this two year course with a Masters in Goldsmithing and Design in July 2006.
Her work is held in private collections, and in the public collection at the Dowse Art Museum, Lower Hutt.
