As a Metalsmith:: I view metal as a living element. When I use my chasing hammer on sterling silver or copper, the metal seems to flow like water until it is shaped into the form I imagined. I love the versatility of metal; you can make a shape organic or geometric, depending on what you are trying to convey. I love … Read more As a Metalsmith:: I view metal as a living element. When I use my chasing hammer on sterling silver or copper, the metal seems to flow like water until it is shaped into the form I imagined. I love the versatility of metal; you can make a shape organic or geometric, depending on what you are trying to convey. I love how jewelry can be the ultimate in abstract art. I am going for a feeling; a way of looking at life organically and with reverence. To put this feeling in form is my passion. To see my ideas of life as a means of personal expression is the ultimate thrill when I see a woman wearing one of my pieces.

Style::
My style of jewelry is best described as bold and earthy. I love ethnic. I like jewelry that appears to be old, like you just dug it out of the earth where it has been resting for centuries. Archeology and Anthropology have always been keen interests for me. When I was a young girl, and was told of my Cherokee heritage, I went on a learning quest to discover what it meant to live in a tribal society; which is ironic, as I have traveled my entire adult life quite extensively and have had to fashion my own tribe of friends scattered around the world. For many years, I tried to find jewelry would act as a touchstone for me of that earlier time in our history where people stayed in one place. When I couldn’t find what I was looking for, I decided to make it myself. Through extensive travel, I seek out and try and incorporate tribal and ethnic elements into my metalwork that I have witnessed.

My Medium::
I use sterling silver, copper and brass in my designs. I like to oxidize all of my work, then use 0000 steel wool to rub the age into my pieces, with a couple of hours in a rock tumbler with stainless steel shot to work harden and burnish the metal. I don't do wax casting, so each piece is absolutely unique.