Bio
Nature is the ultimate designer. I feel that all my design choices eventually lead me back to this simple truth. I try to create beautiful objects that mimic the repetition of shapes in nature, and the deep, earthy color palette I find there. By using organic materials like vintage sequins, leather and semi-precious stones, found objects and machine stitching, my jewelry is a way for me to synthesize my diverse interests of nature, textiles and indigenous craft traditions into objects that reflect the energy that is alive in all things handmade.
As a young girl growing up in Texas, my love for nature was born on family trips to the countryside, a rocky landscape of mesquite and cactus. Although I now make my home in San Francisco, far from my Texas roots, I remain deeply influenced by the beauty of those vast, rough vistas.
I was always encouraged to make and experiment with the world at my hands. After my mother taught me how to sew at the age of 11, I started to make my own clothes and quickly decided I wanted to become a clothing designer. I went on to study fashion and costume at university and it was there that I fell in love with the textile arts.
Fascinated by the culture of Japan, I took a job in Hokkaido as a teacher in 1997 and lived the next three years exploring the Japanese aesthetic, language and countryside. This led me to even further travels in Asia, where I found myself absorbing haunting and poetic images and stories of culture, and where I ended up teaching art in Nepal.
Upon returning to the US in 2002, I made my home in San Francisco and began to work as an assistant to local clothing designers. It was at this time that I started to learn the craft of natural dyeing, bringing my love of nature and appreciation for handmade textiles together. With the dyed fabric scraps I began to experiment with jewelry. It was then that I started learning how to work with metal.
In 2008 I followed love to Melbourne, Australia, where I continued to deepen my jewelry practice. I was tremendously influenced by the harsh beauty of the continent and by Aboriginal culture. Soon I began to see that same economy of line show itself in my own work.
Since March of 2011 I have been back in San Francisco, teaching at the Academy of Art University and working on new pieces inspired from my travels abroad.
Bio
Nature is the ultimate designer. I feel that all my design choices eventually lead me back to this simple truth. I try to create beautiful objects that mimic the repetition of shapes in nature, and the deep, earthy color palette I find there. By using organic materials like vintage sequins, leather and semi-precious stones, found objects and machine stitching, my jewelry is a way for me to synthesize my diverse interests of nature, textiles and indigenous craft traditions into objects that reflect the energy that is alive in all things handmade.
As a young girl growing up in Texas, my love for nature was born on family trips to the countryside, a rocky landscape of mesquite and cactus. Although I now make my home in San Francisco, far from my Texas roots, I remain deeply influenced by the beauty of those vast, rough vistas.
I was always encouraged to make and experiment with the world at my hands. After my mother taught me how to sew at the age of 11, I started to make my own clothes and quickly decided I wanted to become a clothing designer. I went on to study fashion and costume at university and it was there that I fell in love with the textile arts.
Fascinated by the culture of Japan, I took a job in Hokkaido as a teacher in 1997 and lived the next three years exploring the Japanese aesthetic, language and countryside. This led me to even further travels in Asia, where I found myself absorbing haunting and poetic images and stories of culture, and where I ended up teaching art in Nepal.
Upon returning to the US in 2002, I made my home in San Francisco and began to work as an assistant to local clothing designers. It was at this time that I started to learn the craft of natural dyeing, bringing my love of nature and appreciation for handmade textiles together. With the dyed fabric scraps I began to experiment with jewelry. It was then that I started learning how to work with metal.
In 2008 I followed love to Melbourne, Australia, where I continued to deepen my jewelry practice. I was tremendously influenced by the harsh beauty of the continent and by Aboriginal culture. Soon I began to see that same economy of line show itself in my own work.
Since March of 2011 I have been back in San Francisco, teaching at the Academy of Art University and working on new pieces inspired from my travels abroad.
