Bio

I’m a visual artist working with hands-on processes. As a metalsmith, I create physical objects that reflect my commitment to craft. As a photographer, I am exploring hand made one-of-a-kind prints, investigating the alchemy of alternative processes.

Making jewelry led me to thinking about how social and cultural values are communicated by “things,” how personal objects shape our lives and reflect our beliefs. I take pleasure in making art that challenges the status quo, often with irony and paradox.

Themes of science and nature, fashion, fetishism, art or politics are often at play. Museums, collecting and display often reveal our relationships with things we value.

Advertising and consumerism are sources and inspiration because they reflect our ideas back at us. Feminism opened a world of ideas previously unspoken, particularly those relating to the female body.

My work has been exhibited and published in the United States, Canada and Europe. I’ve authored articles on craft, culture and environmental issues and written a technical book, Hydraulic Die Forming for Jewelers and Metalsmiths.

I taught jewelry and metalsmithing at Monterey Peninsula College and conducted numerous workshops on die forming throughout the United States and Canada.

In 2006 I co-founded the non-profit organization, Ethical Metalsmiths, whose mission is to promote responsible jewelry practices through education, connection and action.