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This is the last month that I will have an outside studio. I’ve decided to move back to my house to work as I navigate transitioning from a metalworking artist to a watercolor artist. Whew…big exhale here. I’ve been making metal jewelry for 20 years. This month, I decided to slowly stop making jewelry and pivot to something that I will most likely be exploring for the rest of my life. Watercolors. There are huge changes afoot in my life, and I’ve felt them coming for the last couple of years. When my husband’s father died, I knew that his death signaled a transition inRead More →

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I had my first class swimming with the big fish of the area watercolorists here in Roanoke yesterday. Am I ready to take this class? Probably not. I saw some work in there that I won’t be able to do for…possibly years. Or ever. But I figure if I’m able to absorb just a little of what I experienced in class as I continue to paint, then it’s worth being a small fish in a big pond. I know, from my experience making jewelry, that the only way to execute what is in my mind and marry that with my actual ability is time. HowRead More →

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I believe the most important aspect to uniqueness is curiosity. It supports uniqueness, or is the precursor to it, since it drives the interest necessary to differentiate oneself from the crowd. And I suppose if I dive a little deeper, I believe fear is what keeps someone forever in the tribe of mediocrity and common viewpoints. Curiosity about our fears teases out the conditioning that led to the fear in the first place, and if you face any fear with curiosity, then a unique viewpoint has the soil to grow– under the right conditions. I’m a self-taught jeweler, and started getting curious about fire andRead More →

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I have loved the look of pearls and silver since I first saw my cousin wearing a silver pearl ring when I was 13. She was long and blonde, 16 and from California. She was the most exotic person I had ever seen, and she was a surfer. When she arrived to my house from her California home late one night with her parents, I was surprised to see her on my living room couch. I remember studying her while she slept. She looked like a landlocked mermaid, and her jewelry had that California ease that looks like a person was born with their jewelryRead More →

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I haven’t used my jeweler’s saw in years for anything other than cutting a straight line to make another design. But not this week! A few weeks ago I was watching a new show on Apple TV called The Morning Show with Reece Witherspoon and Jennifer Anniston. Jennifer’s character was wearing a gorgeous pair of gold earrings in one of the episodes, and I was inspired to make these layered brass earrings with sterling silver accents. I think the trick to making brass earrings resemble gold is in the finish you choose and the thinness of the metal. Jennifer’s earrings were very lightweight and thin,Read More →