Artist Profile

  "Nature and my personal experiences inspire my work, and in the process

of re-creating these,  my jewelry is forged as a gift of a fine silver adventure. " 

     I am an adventurist that is forever seeing my surroundings and experiences in an art form. Nature in the Pacific Northwest fascinates me, because it is a gift that many times goes unnoticed. It is where the mountains meet the ocean and lakes form naturally in the crevices while waterfalls flow to the sea. As I take in this beauty, my jewelry pieces create a story of my walks at the ocean, rafting along a river, or hiking up a mountain, much the same as a painting or a photo will remind you of a place in time; a memory. Many times I ask myself “can this be recreated in silver?” which begins my creative process.  

     My pieces are sculpted in fine silver Precious Metal Clay (PMC), which is recycled silver that can be molded, shaped and cut.  I prop up a picture in front of my bench that I personally captured by memory or camera and add tiny details until the scene comes alive in a wearable art piece to be adorned by the viewer. I use crushed turquoise or opal as inlay to add to my scene, and generally a moonstone or turquoise is set in each piece to represent the moon and sun. A butterfly is lovingly placed in the piece with 22k accent gold which represents my pollinator garden and current residence in Talent, Oregon where ‘Bee City USA’ is home to bees and butterflies. The presence of the butterfly reminds us that pollinators are essential to our environment. 

     I finish the pieces using patina, and if I bead the necklace, I am drawn to pearls, or semi-precious stones, because they represent nature. The entire process from the adventure to the silver and the final finishing completes my story. The owner of each piece will certainly have their own story to tell.