NEWS
I have beads listed on 
ABOUT ME
I have always loved to do detailed work. In my early teens, I was interested in jewelry making and enameling. I had an "workshop" in our basement when I was in highschool and took jewelry classes at galleries. Later, I studied jewelry making and enameling at Kent State University and Penland School of Crafts. I became a fulltime goldsmith; working at a jewelry store for eight years. For the first few years I was excited about the work. Sadly, working at the store sucked the creative joy out of me. In December 2004, I took a beadmaking class and fell head over heels for glass beadmaking. I still have my jewelry studio and I occasionally work at my bench but I stopped taking commissions last year and now focus on glass.
My main interest is in making encased floral beads. I spend long days in my studio; working to find ways to create floral beads with beautiful depth and lots of detail. Every day is an opportunity to try to figure out something new. I work on color combinations, new backgrounds, vines and canes, new ways to make leaves, and new flower petal shapes. Believe me, for evey bead that I list or take to a show, I have more beads that didn't work out. They will never see the light of day but I always learn something from those beads too. When I am ready for a change of pace, I work on raised florals, or I make Acorns (I love acorns), Smiling Slugs, Bluebirds of Happiness or even "Spring Frogs of Love"!
What I enjoy most about glass beadmaking is something I call the "What if?" factor. I may think I'm heading in one direction when I start making a bead and then I think "what if I....." and off I go in a whole new direction. Hot glass is a material that allows me to be very spontaneous. There is nothing like being so immersed in what I am doing that I totally lose track of time. Every morning that I open the kiln, to see what I made the day before, is like Christmas. The JOY of creating is back!
I'm a member of ISGB, ORBS, and PBS and SRA (M-88). I was honored to have a picture of one of my encased floral beads selected for a book called "Bead Review 2005" by Brad Pearson and Deanna Griffin Dove. And I am thrilled to have sent my beads to customers in many parts of the United States, England, Japan, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.
