A Life of Bringing out Beauty
The start of jewelry making
I started making jewelry after being given a Rock tumbler while a student in High School from 1976 to 1980. I made my first pieces using tumbled stones and pre-manufactured findings which I purchased wholesale in New York. I sold these at the High School Art Bazaar to other Students and Teachers.
I moved on to Silversmithing and semi-precious stones. The jewelry I made using this method, along with cabochons I cut and polished and used in the manufacture of my jewelry. In 2012 I took a course to learn about making Metal Clay jewelry. I immediately fell in love with this medium and began to use Fine Silver Metal Clay. Metal Clay is tiny particles of metals mixed with an organic binder and water which allows Artists to sculpt create and use metal like clay, when fired using a torch or a jeweler’s kiln, the binder burns off, the metals sinter and what is left is a Metal piece. I bought a kiln in 2015 when to fire my Silver Metal Clay as I got into making larger pieces that were too big to be fired using a torch and to use with different metal clays that could not be fired by torch. I also make my own fused dichroic glass using my kiln which I integrate into my Silver Metal Clay jewelry. I am also certified to teach classes in metal clay
