After making a necklace with a few of my sister’s beads in 2009, I was hooked!  My initial symmetrical style has evolved into a freer, more playful one — where a wide variety of beads (semi-precious gemstones, freshwater pearls, Czech glass and metals) play off one another with their different shapes, textures and colors. On many trips to Prague and the Czech Republic, I fell in love with Czech glass beads and consider them my main vice in life!

In the past few years I have explored the medium of polymer clay and I am fascinated by its many possibilities for jewelry.  It is a polymer (not clay) which is strong, lightweight, and can be shaped into endless designs.  Many of my pieces are made from my own texture plates.  I mold, cut, and hand-paint the components for my polymer clay jewelry, and thus each piece -- whether pendant, bracelet or earrings -- is one-of-a-kind.  

Recently I have been exploring new media for earrings with resin:  hand-painted papers using alcohol inks and acrylic paints, and hand-made papers using the gelli plate with acrylic paints. The vibrant colors and the ways they combine, layer and move are fascinating to me.  I'm also having fun using medieval Christmas cards (sent by my parents over 40 years) to make resined earrings, and look forward to exploring the use of other papers and cards. 

Finally, the desire to do larger works of art than earrings has led me to begin painting with watercolor and acrylic paints -- and yet I am always drawn back to "How can I make this so people can wear it?!"  The possibilities are endless and intriguing!

I’ve been a Caspian Lake summer resident since before I was born. Now retired from my career in parish ministry, my move to Vermont has given me the blessing of time and space to grow deeper roots in this community, make jewelry, and enjoy the beauty of the seasons.   

 

 

About My Polymer Clay Jewelry  

I work with an incredibly versatile artistic medium:  polymer clay.   It is a polymer (plastic) which can be manipulated, textured, painted, shaped and cut.  When it is baked, it turns into a strong, hard and very light-weight object -- ideal for a bead or a piece of jewelry that will be worn, like earrings, a pendant or a bracelet.  

I use a variety of ways to creage my pieces.  I use paints, mica powders, pastels, alcohol inks and metal foils to create my hand-painted veneers, and then I cut the shapes out of the veneers, trying as much as possible to match/relate the colors between earring beads.  Because creating is an intuitive process, I can never copy a veneer -- so each piece is always one-of-a-kind!

Some art pendants are made from molds of 19th-century buttons or pressed from modern texture plates.  I particularly enjoy exploring the use of metal foils which adhere beautifully to the polymer clay, and which can then be enhanced with paints and other media.

Each piece is sealed with either 7-10 coats of varnish or 1-2 coats of resin.  They are water-resistant but not water-proof, so please do not swim or shower in them!  And while polymer clay bakes to a strong finish, it is not unbreakable, so best not to bend them, especially around the top bail.

I hope you enjoy my jewelry as much as I enjoy creating it!