About the Artist

I was born in Flint Michigan and after college in southern Illinois married my husband, who I have followed in many moves due to his job.

We now live in a small town in South Dakota where we bought a piece of property mostly for the barn that is climate controlled. This gives me a very large studio to work in. I now consider myself a full time Artist and a part time mom. I have a bachelor’s degree in Photographic Arts and a need to create.

I have tried my hand at many types of art including textiles. My garments consist of many different quilted jackets. Custom orders are welcome for these as well. My real true love is Lampworking; most of my time is spent behind the torch.

I have wanted to learn to make glass beads ever since I saw a kit offered in a catalog some 10 years ago and finally went to a demonstration at a local glass shop about six years ago in Omaha, NE. That visit led to the purchase of a torch and the trial and error of my first Newbie beads. . Lampworking has become an obsession and I don’t like it when I miss a day of making beads. This may, of course, just mean that I like playing with fire, one can never tell.

Lampworked beads are made by taking a rod of glass and melting it in the flame of a torch then wrapping that hot molten glass around a steel mandrel. The bead can be decorated in many ways, and shapes are limited only by ones imagination. The finished bead is then annealed in a kiln for strength and durability. Turning a set of beads into a finished piece of jewelry just adds to the creative possibilities of this medium.

While largely self-taught, I have many wonderful friends who are always willing to share what they know and help out a fellow lampworker. I have been a member of the Midwest Lampworkers Guild since it’s beginning, and I am also a member of the Hotshops Flameworkers. In January of 2003, I began to show my work and have been involved in several shows with the Midwest Lampworkers Guild, as well as doing shows on my own and with my wonderful artist friends.