moving forward by looking backward

As I sit at my jewelry bench, I imagine the span of time living beings have been creating things on Earth. She gives us such an abundance of materials and infinite inspiration to play with. Shell beads were found with Neanderthal remains 100,000+ years old, a stone bracelet with a drilled hole (meaning a highly specialized tool!) is dated to 70,000+ years old, and ancient cultures have left behind exquisite metal adornments to share who they were and how they saw themselves.

The modern world offers seemingly limitless creative possibility, but I choose to keep my methods simple. I find inspiration in the limitations of using only hand tools and cold connections (when wire is wrapped or shaped rather than melted). 

forging metal, forging myself, forging a path forward

As metal is hammered and shaped, the atoms within it are aligned in a way that hardens it. When shaped skillfully and with the right amount of pressure applied, a coil of wire becomes a form with meaning - and someone may come along and want to buy it, to live their lives wearing it! This beautiful exchange of energies has allowed me to forge my own path. Connecting to people from all over the world through transforming bits of wire with just the simplest of tools has sustained a life of creative adventure for me. It has taught me patience, persistence, and something of how to dip a lure into the fickle and infinite seas of creative ideas. 

spirit of form

I feel like each piece is its own little being. The process of individually forging them gives the metal a balance of lightness and strength that can’t be replicated by mass methods of production. The tools leave tiny marks on each piece, like a fingerprint. The anvil surface creates a finish that can’t be made by machine - a matte skin like sheen.

solid substance

I engineer for every day adventure, and use solid metals that survive the test.