Artist's Statement

My passion is glass - glass jewelry and stained glass. Glass is unique and interesting, both technically and artistically. Time flies when considering all the possibilities of color combinations and shapes, visualizing the potential outcomes. The creation process connects me to a deeper, timeless part of me, the source of creativity, which I believe is in all of us. Each piece is an expression of my inner self and is what draws people to my work.

Each item is handmade and with it comes the imperfections that make each piece unique, and yet each item is a labor of love, made with the highest quality materials and with great care and craftsmanship. I prefer to design my own pieces, but have also found joy in creating pieces designed by others. My priority is the final outcome of the piece so I do not take shortcuts that sacrifice quality for a quick turnaround.

Glass has unique beauty that changes with the time of day, the type of lighting and the direction of the light. The luminosity and the infinite variety of colors can be wondrous to behold. A beautiful glass piece can change the mood of a room greatly and lift your spirits as well. Stained Glass can be time-intensive, but with advanced cutting skills and the right tools, a fairly complex hanging piece can be completed in a reasonable amount of time. Fused glass has its own technical challenges with reactivity of glass with each other, which can change colors, positioning of a fused piece properly over a slumping mold and compatibility issues that can cause cracking. Compatibility issues can happen if the different types of glass used cool at different rates such that slow cooling (annealing) cannot reduce the tension caused by the different cooling rates enough to prevent cracks from occurring. Glass paints can be used with both to enhance a piece.

All jewelry pieces are made with quality sterling silver, Swarovski crystals, and/or pearls unless otherwise noted. These may also include glass beads made on a Carlisle Mini CC torch or a Hothead torch or fused glass cabachons wire-wrapped in sterling silver. Glass beads made by the artist are properly annealed to avoid cracks that occur when a bead has cooled too quickly on the surface compared to the inside of the bead.

Handmade cards are made with archival quality paper and inks.