My large extended family places great value on the creative arts.  The “rule of thumb” for gifts is simple.  “Please don’t bother to purchase anything….but I’d LOVE it if you made me something!”

I grew up in a small town in upstate New York, close to the Canadian border and on the shores of Lake Ontario.  My free time was divided between the lake in summer and hiking and exploring in the Adirondacks the rest of the year.  The play of light and texture in nature has always intrigued me.

In New York I learned Appalachian basket weaving and participated in numerous juried shows, created custom pieces for interior designers and sold my work via a select group of museum shops and catalogs.  Basket weaving satisfied my need to feel the materials and add the color and texture I wanted to include in each piece.

When I moved to Arizona the light and textures were so different.  I started to explore new mediums.  One trip to the Glendale Bead Museum introduced me to the wonder of bead weaving, and my adventure continued with mixed media, collage, and altered art.  But the most exciting moment for me was my first PMC class!  WOW… The texture, details, colors and “fine tuning” available with PMC (Precious Metal Clay) hooked me!    I became a PMC Certified Artisan and now PMC Fine Silver and PMC Copper are my two favored vehicles.

Each of my jewelry pieces is unique and I sometimes combine PMC with chainmaille or beadwork as the design develops.  My artwork is on display and available for purchase at Gallery 225 in Gilbert, Arizona.  I enjoy teaching private PMC classes to small groups, and have great fun developing bead patterns and PMC items for sale via 5 Acre Arts.com.