Artist Bio
Like many artists, I was drawn to create from a young age and explored numerous mediums, one of which was jewelry. Growing up between home North of Santa Fe, New Mexico and boarding school in the Indian Himalayas, I had two rich jewelry cultures for inspiration. In college, after many years of formal design school, I earned a Masters of Architecture and worked for over a decade in that field before finding my way back to jewelry. Being a tactile person and obsessed with craftsmanship, I had missed creating with my own two hands. I now draw on my background designing and detailing high end homes to bring the same craftsmanship and attention to detail to my jewelry.
Artist Statement
Inspiration from the intersection of nature, architecture, and archeology is combined with structure, texture, and color to create fine hand fabricated jewelry with a bit of whimsy. Each piece begins with a special gemstone or found object, an idea about a form, or the evocation of a feeling. Through dozens of hand sketches and physical mock-ups it is refined into a finished concept. Finally this concept is translated into gold and silver. Every unique gemstone or found object inspires its own method of setting. Hand stamping, forging and granulation techniques are used to build up layers of texture, often requiring dozens of pieces to create mini vignettes. Finishing methods like oxidation, polishing, and brushing add depth to my mini sculptures.