I took to jewelry making like a duck takes to water. I had always enjoyed artistic persuits, but it wasn't until I landed a job at a bead store that I really began to explore jewelry design. It started off with simple stringing and as my curiousity grew so did my repertoire of techniques. My first experience with the torch felt like pure magic.

I've had a lot of people ask me about my shop name. Some say that the word "bitter" has negative connotations, but when I think of bitterness I think of it as a balance to sweetness. It made perfect sense once I found the quote "Patience is bitter, but it's fruit is sweet", because the primary ingredient in my jewelry is time. I have only the basic tools to work with, and sometimes when I am working on a piece I have to remind myself not to rush, to let the work come along at it's own pace. I want my jewelry to have that handmade quality and think that too many machines take away from that feeling of imperfect beauty.

I get a thrill when I ship my jewelry to a place I've never been; I wonder if it will be given to a cherished love one, where it will be kept, whether or not it will be lost and found. I hope that when someone wears a piece of my jewelry they can feel the pride that went into making it.

As long as there is breath in my bones I will create. This shop gives me the opportunity to keep exploring and expanding. With patience and a little luck I hope for it to one day be my full time job so that I can spend the rest of my life doing what I love most.