Beading and making jewelry with beads, wire, and metal began as a hobby. That was five years ago. Beading and making jewelry has become part of my spiritual practice/journey because it forces me to be in the moment (one bead at a time). I opened an online shop to sell my jewelry because I enjoy having an outlet to express and share my creativity for wearable art.

I live in Raleigh, NC and love it! I initially moved here to attend graduate school at North Carolina State University, and upon completion of my doctorate degree, I continued to work and live in the area. Beading was on my "to do" list for about ten years. While I was in graduate school at one point, I went to a bead store for the first time and bought a few materials, which made me realize that beading is cost prohibitive for a student at any level. After I began teaching full time at a local college, I revisited my interest in beading by going to a bead store in Raleigh where I made my first pair of earrings and signed up for my first beading class. The class was a beading "boot camp" class where we learned three techniques in one day: (1) stringing and crimping; (2) knotting; and (3) making loops with head pins. I attended a second class that involved the making of simple loops with beaded head pins, and attaching them to chain for a finished necklace. After that, I was hooked on the wire working and attended every class I could that involved wire working of some sort. I continue to broaden my bead and jewelry making skills by continuing to learn new techniques, especially those that involve wire working and metalsmithing.

As a result, I consider myself to be a wire and bead artist and I love working with wire because there are no rules. As a natural progression, I have moved into metalsmithing, particularly cold connecting (connecting without using heat), folding sheet metal, and fusing. Other techniques I enjoy are stringing and knotting. I only use all natural materials in my designs, including semiprecious stones, gemstones, crystals, freshwater pearls, glass pearls, glass beads, and sometimes wood beads. I also use solid base metals, including copper, brass, and pewter. However, I can custom make pieces with gold-filled and/or sterling/fine silver metals. I can also custom make pieces to your specifications based on your favorite semi-precious stone(s) and/or favorite colors/color schemes, etc.