I am a transplanted Brit who shipped out from London as a babe in arms arriving to the mists of British Columbia's Pacific West Coast. (The mists were so dense that my mother claims it was weeks before they lifted and she finally realized that we were surrounded by mountains.) An army brat, our family travelled from one coast to the other touching down along the way to live in most of Canada's provinces.
My adult life has mirrored my upbringing moving thru as many careers as "postings" and in as many locations from London, England to small towns on Vancouver Island. I met my husband in Vancouver. We had dreamt as individuals and once met, as a couple of living in the country as secluded as possible. I have always envisioned the ocean in front of me and Dominic, the forest behind him. We found our dream property on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia. Our front yard is the Pacific Ocean and our back yard is rain forest. We are refugees from the city craving quiet, solitude and simplicity. We live off the grid, powered by solar and batteries, heat with wood and use runoff water from a mountain stream.
It is in this idyllic landscape that I have discovered making jewellery. I love jewellery. I like to wear it, look at it, touch it and I love to make it. I believe that decision to wear a piece of jewellery is a creative act. Jewellery has the power to enhance beauty; to create a persona. Jewellery allows one to express oneself; it can funkify the classic and elevate the casual.
In making jewellery I have discovered a truly meditative experience. The making of each piece becomes a communication between the elements I am working with and myself. I know when each piece is complete because when it is I have a visceral reaction. Until that happens I keep working, tearing it apart, putting it back together; I continue to file and cut waiting for the click.