ordered chaos
I've been making things with my hands since I can remember. I was raised in semi-rural Virginia by Depression-era grandparents. My grandfather, never one to throw anything away - or purchase expensive art materials - kept what we referred to as the "junk room". But to me, this was my supply closet, the place where I got all of the materials for my many projects, from the leftover rug remnants and house paint I used in a handmade and furnished cardboard doll-less house, to old pieces of tire I used to make a pair of flip flops. The Childcraft Make and Do books were my Bible.
After studying art at university, I spent years in social work. Now, I’m finally returning to what makes me really happy, making things. I love the sculptural aspect of making jewelry and the color and tactile process of knitting. My design influence emanates from my printmaking background and my approach from Grandpa’s junk room.
I’m very attracted to showing positive vs. negative space. I find inspiration in the intersection of order and chaos, natural vs. industrial, like the beautiful lush organic vine growing on a rusted glass and steel structure or the sound of rain on a metal roof, things that connect my Virginia childhood with my new home in Seattle. I try to reflect this feeling of time, nature, and industry in my designs, a marriage of my past and present.