JEWELRY STUDIO

In my home studio, I find great joy in creating jewelry in many different styles, using a variety of materials, including glass beads, semi-precious stones, shells, and precious metals. I have been a long-time enthusiast and collector of glass beads and semiprecious stones, and enjoy having a wealth of materials to draw upon when creating new work. Learn a little more about some of the kinds of materials I work with below!

CANE GLASS BEADS

These geometric and colorful glass beads are created by forming short tubes of multicolored glass, usually encased in a clear coating, that are then heated and stretched while the glass is molten, into long slender “canes” that are sliced and tumbled to make sparkly, elegant tube shaped beads. I love the clarity and vividness of color found in cane glass and find the best way to showcase them is by pairing them with Swarovski and other fine crystal beads to make necklaces, earrings and bracelets.

LAMP WORK BEADS

These beads are each created individually, using a small torch to heat glass rods into molten liquid that is wrapped around a small steel rod to form a bead. Layers and embellishments can be added to each bead, sometimes producing the intricacy that is found in fine art glass paperweights. I’m finding recently that they pair well with cane glass beads as well as with crystal spacer beads.

GLASS SEED BEADS - BEADED CABOCHONS

Seed beads are generally tiny beads that are used in bead weaving. Cabochons are precious and semi-precious stones that are flat on the bottom and domed and polished on the top. While living in southeast Alaska, I started learning bead weaving patterns used by Native artists and discovered a whole new world of creativity. My favorite way to use bead weaving is in creating beaded cabochon pendants, as seen in the photos below. Most of these pieces are inspired by a particular stone or set of stone cabochons and the other elements seem to arrange themselves around that focal piece.

STERLING SILVER JEWELRY

My earliest jewelry experience was in fabricating sterling silver and brass pieces for a multimedia artist in Haines, Alaska. I remember those first efforts to cut intricate shapes out of a flat piece of silver. Though I broke many delicate saw blades in the process, I loved cutting silver and hammering it into pleasing contours. Forty years later, I still greatly enjoy the process of working with silver. Below are examples of recent work.

STONE AND PEARL JEWELRY

Combining semi-precious stones and freshwater pearls allows for a really rich palette of color, shape and texture combinations. In creating a new piece, I usually start with a stone pendant that I want to feature, then pair it with a contrasting color of freshwater pearls for stringing the necklace.

VINTAGE BEADS FROM THE AFRICAN BEAD TRADE

These beads were produced in Italy and eastern Europe, primarily in the 1800’s, and used as currency in Africa to trade for precious stones and metals. I’m fascinated by the intricacy of design in as well as the history of where these beads came from, and how they passed through many hands being used as currency.