My jewelry making started in 2001 with an introductory class at my local bead shop after I quit working to start a family. I learned a simple, yet time consuming wire-wrapping technique and decided to create a long lariat necklace that took several hours to make. I brought my finished necklace to the next class and the girls were amazed at my dedication. An obsession was born. After that, voracious reading and experimentation spurred me on to try new things. While I have lots of failed projects sitting around in my studio, many of those failures led to alternate successes, so it’s all worthwhile. I work primarily in wirewrapping. I love how I can take a few lengths of wire and transform them into something feminine and lovely like a rosebud or a lacy pair of earrings.
Other than that first class in which I learned the basics, I'm largely self-taught, though I have taken a couple of metalsmithing and precious metal clay classes (from Kathleen Kennedy and Cheryl Lucas, respectively). This has given me some rudimentary knowledge, enough to experiment without setting fire to myself, and it takes my work a step further in that I now buy fewer pre-made jewelry findings and instead use raw materials to make my own findings.
My work varies wildly: from ultra-feminine, girly and involved to extremely minimal and modern, and I find that it appeals to a wide variety of women due to this versatility.
