Shirley’s first contact with hot glass was as a child, when she decided to see what would happen if she fried a clear marble on her parents’ space heater then dropped it into cold water. She has been fascinated with glass ever since. Though the rich and bright colors of glass have always appealed to her, Shirley’s experimentation in color began with her work in fibers and fabric. After several years of sublime obsession with quilts, she turned her creative efforts to personal adornment and returned to glass. Shirley has been creating jewelry since 1996 after learning how to make earrings from a co-worker. A short time after making her first necklaces, people started inquiring about purchasing her pieces. She continued to explore new jewelry designs, and in 2000 she gave herself over to her love of glass when she began making her own beads. Shirley’s main influence is nature, and for inspiration she draws upon her present surroundings as well as the New England landscapes of her childhood. She features seasacpes, rocks, trees and flowers as well as little fantasy worlds in her glass beads. With her unique beads she creates one-of-a-kind jewelry, embellished with stones, precious metals and other natural elements. And if you’re still wondering what happened to that fried marble, soon thereafter the kids in the neighborhood could be seen wearing little crackle-glass spheres around their necks. Shirley is a member of the International Society of Glass Beadmakers, the Northern Californa Society of Glass Beadmakers, and the Northern California Bead Society.