I began this new endeavor in a small bead shop in Santa Monica California where my sister Linda promised we could find the best beads in L.A. I have always been inspired by her exquisite taste and creativity. Since retiring from my long held corporate job I was in need of a creative outlet and found that I had a knack and a love for designing and crafting jewelry. Linda became my mentor those first months and I thank her for getting me started on this new adventure.

I have always been drawn to various creative endeavors in my personal life. Interior design, landscape architecture, and painting are inspiring to me but after experiencing the thrill of creating my first necklace, I knew I had discovered a true passion. Over the past few years I have explored the use of wonderful natural materials including:

• semi-precious gemstones
• shells
• fresh water pearls
• and various metals

To expand my technical skills, I have taken private lessons and workshops with highly respected jewelry artists and metalsmith classes. I have also joined the Nassau Mineral Club of Long Island, where I learned the art of making hand cut links from sterling silver wire from John Paul Gouin, a long time expert and innovator into the art of chain making. This has added greatly to the variety of designs I produce. These chain and chainmaille designs make beautiful pieces on their own, but when combined with semi-precious and silver beads they make a bold statement of style and convey a unique sense of fashion. My passion for the work is kept fresh by a continued exploration of new techniques, including lapidary (stone shaping and polishing) and metal work, as well as an earnest study of the meta physical properties and the importance of beads throughout history.

Over the past few years, I have designed jewelry for a large financial institution in New York City to be used as corporate gift packages. These nontraditional gifts were each personally designed, and made by hand using high quality materials and have been appreciated for their uniqueness and highly wearable qualities. Each necklace was presented in a custom made, custom designed jewelry box created by Gilda Shelp. These exquisite boxes perfectly complimented the necklaces to create a very special and memorable package!