"Go To Your Studio And Make Stuff". This is what my canvas tote bag proclaims - thanks, Fred Babb! - and I took his advice long before I ever had a studio. As a child, I often brought home leaves, plants, rocks, and shells that I found on various outdoor "treasure hunts". I would turn them into posters, jewelry, or whatever else caught my fancy. I was always the happiest when I was busy "making stuff".

My earliest relationship with glass came when I began collecting and trading marbles with the neighborhood kids. When I discovered that I could super-heat the "clearies" (on the coil of my parents' space heater), place them in ice water, and end up with crackle-glass marbles, I began a whole new "line" of jewelry. All this at the tender age of 10. How I kept from burning down the house is beyond me.

My interest in glass diminished when I took to needle and thread. After dabbling with clothing construction, embroidery, needlepoint, and cross-stitch, I landed squarely in the world of quilting. It was during my many years of obsessing over fabric that I developed my sense of color. Although my love of quilts has never faded, I no longer make them. I have completely given myself over to the world of hot glass.

I was re-introduced to glass and jewelry in 1996, when I was taught how to make earrings with beads by a co-worker. I began making jewelry in earnest, and started selling necklaces and earrings when approached by people who wanted to buy what I was wearing. I took my first lampwork class in January of 2000, which significantly changed the direction of my artistic endeavors. Since then, I have studied with several well-known glass folks - Jim Smircich, Sharon Peters, Loren Stump, Nancy Tobey, Kate Fowle Meleney, Heather Trimlett, Pati Walton, Michael Barley, Diana East, Bronwen Heilman, Gail Crosman Moore - and plan to continue my studies well into the future. In February of 2006, I spent 9 days studying sculptural techniques with Lucio Bubacco and Vittorio Costantini on the island of Murano in Venice, Italy. I can't wait to go back!

I draw my inspiration from the world around me - from sights of the city, with sparkling lights, colorful people, and works of art, to time spent photographing lighthouses and covered bridges, hiking through forests and rocky quarries, and combing beaches. I was elated when I discovered how to imitate the patterns found in Vermont marble and granite, and rocks are a recurring theme in my beads. The possibilities that bead making has provided seem endless, as is my passion for this form of artistic expression.
And my journey has just begun!

Oh, and I am "mom" to Peanut, my jumping Jack Russell terrier -
the creature responsible for my business name, and the best fur kid on the planet.