ARTIST'S STATEMENT
As a child, I could often be found daydreaming, dressing up my Barbie dolls and giving them short, chic hairstyles (so unlike their packaged hairdos), dressing myself up in my mom’s old dresses with 1960’s costume jewelry, sewing together little projects, and stringing beads. Hands-on creativity has been a close companion since my childhood, and it filters through my daily life in an emotional and physical way.
Shortly after relocating to North Carolina, I was accepted into East Carolina University’s School of Art & Design in the MFA program in Metal Design. With much hard work, encouragement, guidance, and the excellent teaching skills of my professors, I found my individual voice as a metalsmith and enamelist. Through my mentor Linda Darty, I fell in love with enameling, the art of fusing pigmented glass to metal. It’s the medium I work with most frequently, although I experiment with many other materials in my pieces, including gold, semiprecious stones, encaustic, wood, natural stone, leather, and even cardboard.
My design theory is this: I relish using a minimum of materials with which to make a worthwhile object. My enameled vessels and bracelets require cutting, manipulating and forming sheet copper intuitively, using my hands, a few basic tools and a specific end image in mind. I like the challenge of creating visual interest quietly and modestly. My inspirations derive from natural, architectural, and industrial sources. The color of the object and its form are of equal importance; my challenge is to achieve balance between the two.
Copper, laden with natural surface oxides, lends itself well to experimentation with enamel, and it's my favorite metal to use. I often fire the enamel longer than necessary; I then have an aesthetically defined, blackened edge that reinforces the object’s formal outline and textural detail. Enameling this way is very direct; the copper and the glass merge with little interference. I emphasize the honest, straightforward quality of the handcrafted object by highlighting surface detail and connections, using techniques such as sgraffito, metal "fringe" and mitered edges. I believe that these processes make the work more visually inviting and accessible to the viewer.
Shortly after relocating to North Carolina, I was accepted into East Carolina University’s School of Art & Design in the MFA program in Metal Design. With much hard work, encouragement, guidance, and the excellent teaching skills of my professors, I found my individual voice as a metalsmith and enamelist. Through my mentor Linda Darty, I fell in love with enameling, the art of fusing pigmented glass to metal. It’s the medium I work with most frequently, although I experiment with many other materials in my pieces, including gold, semiprecious stones, encaustic, wood, natural stone, leather, and even cardboard.
My design theory is this: I relish using a minimum of materials with which to make a worthwhile object. My enameled vessels and bracelets require cutting, manipulating and forming sheet copper intuitively, using my hands, a few basic tools and a specific end image in mind. I like the challenge of creating visual interest quietly and modestly. My inspirations derive from natural, architectural, and industrial sources. The color of the object and its form are of equal importance; my challenge is to achieve balance between the two.
Copper, laden with natural surface oxides, lends itself well to experimentation with enamel, and it's my favorite metal to use. I often fire the enamel longer than necessary; I then have an aesthetically defined, blackened edge that reinforces the object’s formal outline and textural detail. Enameling this way is very direct; the copper and the glass merge with little interference. I emphasize the honest, straightforward quality of the handcrafted object by highlighting surface detail and connections, using techniques such as sgraffito, metal "fringe" and mitered edges. I believe that these processes make the work more visually inviting and accessible to the viewer.
Dress-up fun, age 7
