For me, jewelry is a portable, intimate art that can be worn and constantly enjoyed.
Annual spring trips during highschool to Navajo, Hopi, Zuni and Acoma Reservations around the Southwest, combined with jewelry classes offered at school sparked my love of silver and texture. Under the watchful eye of a jeweler from Aspen, Colorado, I learned the basic techniques of metalwork with hand tools and torch.. After an apprenticeship at Toucan Studio in Denver, I began experimenting with metal fusion.
Metal fusion could be described as an exploration of the unpredictable. The fusion process - working and joining metals with heat at the metal’s melting point - includes the element of surprise. Combining these happy accidents with other more controlled elements establishes a relationship between the accidental and planned, creating textures that blend with imagery from nature.
A love of sailing and a desire to build a wooden boat brought us to Port Townsend in 1993. Textures of the southwest now combine in my work with lines and shapes of the northwest; waves, rain and the tangled lines of kelp as seen from the deck of the sailboat... the smooth curves of the inside of oyster shells, well set sails and seabird wings. The textured pieces are finished with beach pebbles, gems and pearls.
I currently work in my home studio on Marrowstone Island, surrounded by quiet and natural beauty.
