The world visual art is a new one for me. I started taking metalsmithing classes after formal training in music and a career as a teacher and performer. The differences and similarities between the visual and musical arts continually surprise and fascinate me. For example, I am drawn to the shapes and lines that express flow, repetition, rhythm, and variation in color and texture- elements that are all found in music.

I have focused my energies primarily in fabricating small, wearable pieces in sterling silver, brass, bronze, copper, steel, and gold. I am inspired by the shapes, lines, patterns,colors, and texture found in nature, especially in leaves and flowers. Including these in my work provides a way to honor the beauty and fragility of the natural world.

Increasingly, I find myself dealing with symbolism and employing a subtle expression of those symbols that may only be recognized by the maker and wearer. For example, many people respond positively to a pendant featuring a ginkgo leaf. The maker and wearer also know, however, that the ginkgo symbolizes strength, longevity and endurance, largely from the story of the ginkgo trees that survived the atomic bomb over Hiroshima, when everything else around them was destroyed.  Of course, the symbolism is ultimately decided by the wearer!