My grade school art instruction included clay sculpture and a photography class where I developed my own black and white photographs. However it was a family artist friend who has been a source of inspiration since my youth. She had an art room with a box of random junk (now called recycling materials). As kids, we glued, painted, and colored; creating unique “constructions” from things she couldn’t throw away.

In middle school I was the first girl in my grade to take wood shop and subsequently won the coveted “Golden Hammer” for excellent work in shop class. It was also during middle school that my father taught me to throw my first pot (on a kick wheel) at a rustic ceramics retreat. I was hooked.

I took an art class every year in high school, focusing mostly on pottery. A few of my ceramics pieces were selected forthe juried Youth Art Show at the Ann Arbor Art Center and at the Rackham Gallery. Although my artistic expression waned during college, my passion renewed when I moved to Seattle in 1985 and took classes at Pottery Northwest. Eventually I bought a wheel and kiln and continued to create even in winter in a car port with a space heater. I took a hiatus from pottery when my older son was born and I was pursuing my PhD, but kept my hands moving when I learned to knit using the knitting needles inherited from my grandmother.

While I still enjoy knitting smaller projects, it doesn’t sufficiently hold my creative impulses. I dabbled in stained glass, but completing work is time-prohibitive (time is scarce when you have two children). However, remembering the constructions from my youth, I didn’t let the scraps go to waste. I used them to create mosaic pieces, including a table top and the stepping stones in our front yard.

Recently I learned how to make jewelry from a few of my friends. Two would “blow” glass beads and occasionally I would get time on their torches (a blast, both literally and figuratively!). However, creating the beads, while fun, weren’t drawing me in as a primary focus. During a trip to a bead store I discovered Artistic Wire (coated copper or silver color–based wire), and I really started to enjoy jewelry-making. It offers the freedom to mold the wire similar to pottery, yet I don’t have to worry about drying time. This year I fused my love of knitting with my love of working with wire. The result is what you see before you.

My artwork and creative endeavors constantly changes and evolves – much like my geek/engineer/programmer side. I take what I know, synthesize it, and create something new and extraordinary. My goal is to different textures – wire, clay, paper, wood, yarn, and textiles in fun and unique ways. I can’t wait to see what combinations I’ll discover next!