FlourishCraftworks

Welcome to my Etsy shop, the culmination of decades of eclectic studies and practice dating all the way back to the wagonful of painted rocks I pulled around in the 1980's and hawked to my family's gullible neighbors for a quarter.

Before my kids were born, I spent much of my free time drawing, painting, knitting, and making relief prints, calligraphy, and illumination. I received my bachelor's degree from Willamette University in English and Classical Studies, and took nearly enough art history and conservation classes for a third major. I worked in the university library studying archival registration and bookbinding, and volunteered at local art galleries and museums doing conservation for works of art on paper. I even received a prestigious grant while at school to create two complex illuminations in Greek and Latin using historical materials.

These days, everything I do is an extension of my role as a special needs mama. My older son, Nolan, has been significantly impacted by nonverbal autism since 2010, and for the past decade, my focus of study shifted away from art and into holistic health fields like traditional foods, nutrition therapy, reflex integration, clinical aromatherapy and herbalism. I received my CNA license to care for him, and have learned way too much about sensory processing and physical activities like running and Brazilian jiu jitsu in my efforts to keep him--and the rest of our family, including myself as a caregiver--safe, happy, and not merely healthy, but flourishing.

Throughout this unexpected journey with autism, I have continued to use creative outlets to keep myself anchored, and I take great joy in making handmade cards and gifts for Nolan's team of teachers and therapists. Last summer, I began making simple aromatherapy diffuser necklaces with lava beads, and I have been learning new techniques daily ever since. I named this shop Flourish Craftworks because not only am I obsessed with ornamental scrollwork flourishes in wire and ink, but because my jewelry is intended to support your total body--physical, emotional, mental---through natural gemstones, aromatherapy, and visual beauty, as well as offering sensory friendly and active lifestyle options.