Artist statement
A Passion since early childhood
My love of rocks and all things gemological began at age 4 when my grandmother showed me her special collection of Petoskey stones she had found during summer walks along the shores of Lake Michigan.
Wherever I land, the rocks and the geology of the place inform my jewelry designs.
It wasn’t the stones themselves, which are brown or grey with white flower-like impressions, that fascinated me. Rather it was the story she told of their creation.
She described the lives of one-celled animals that lived millions of years ago in the Devonian period. When they died in the mud their tiny bodies left the flower-like impressions.
Since then I have hunted and gathered rock treasures where my travels have taken me, from Lake Michigan to Europe and the Middle East and back again to the United States.
Wherever I land the rocks and the geology of the place inform my jewelry designs.
When my husband and I first arrived in Paris, parked our suitcases in our small apartment in the 15th Arrondissement , and left to explore our neighborhood, we walked the short distance to Ecole Militaire on the way to the Eiffel Tower.
Along the path to the majestic icon looming in the distance, I noticed the sound of our steps on the “gravel” was different than expected.
I stooped to pick up a handful of the stones. My husband, lost in his own thoughts didn’t notice I had stopped and was walking ahead. He suddenly realized I wasn’t beside him and turned to see me examining the pebbles in my hand.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“This is chert!” I exclaimed.
Confounded, he pointed ahead, “The Eiffel Tower!”
The joy of creation is inspired by my clients and the stories I relay to them of the origins of the gems and beads which comprise their jewelry. I am greatly rewarded when a client is entranced by a piece and says, “this really speaks to me!”
Perfect!