I grew up making things instead of playing with toys. Having sold my first jewelry piece at the age of 13, I continued to learn jewelry techniques of various sorts throughout my life. I loved crafts, history, music, and science, and attended a scientific college acknowledging that career-wise during the 1970s I could achieve more at a faster pace by going the scientific route.
I was delightfully distracted by marriage and raising a family, but during this time I continued to learn new craft & jewelry techniques while reading about various histories throughout Europe and the US and at the same time working within the local school system. When my children were all grown, I decided that jewelry techniques were what I wanted to concentrate on learning.
After moving to Arizona, I joined the Sonoran Arts League and the Scottsdale Artists League. When a League jeweler had a customer needing repairs on Viking weave earrings, I stepped in to help since I already knew the technique. From that point, I decided that jewelry done in the ancient arts of Viking chains and chain mail were the areas in which I wanted to focus most of my talent and teaching skills.
I taught Viking weave/knit in the Valley at The Loft Gallery & Studios, Bead It, Desert Mountain Art League workshops, and Creative U. I also taught chain mail at Creative U. As these businesses come and go, I continue to provide lessons at my own studio.
I’ve participated in many Art shows, including the Arizona Fine Art Expo in 2010, and Arizona’s largest Studio Art Tour, Hidden in the Hills, since 2006. I have my jewelry currently for sale through Taos Historic Museums at the E. L. Blumenschein House.
After the closure of Creative U, I have been instrumental in helping former students and teachers get the Artisans Creative Exchange up and running. I’ve given several workshops and ‘playtimes’ to members during which time I discovered that they all needed a source of inexpensive quality beads & metalsmithing supplies. I chose to fill that need by acting as a distributor to the members and other students of materials from Fire Mountain Gems and other suppliers.
Together, my husband and I were featured in jewelry articles in the “Foothills Focus” May 21, 2014 issue and the “Desert Chronicle News Bulletin” of July 11, 2014. We were also jointly co-editors of the monthly “ArtFare” for the Sonoran Arts League from May 2008 through January 2010.
I continue to teach, including the history & philosophy behind the techniques the students are learning, and continue to be active in jewelry making, and volunteering my time to the Sonoran Arts League and Artisans Creative Exchange.