I was born and raised in Vermont and have made my home and work in  Boise, Idaho now for many years. I began working in metals as an  apprentice to a trade jeweler over thirty years ago and after a  rewarding position as assistant to jewelry designer, Timothy Grannis, I  established my own studio in 1999. I have always been drawn to patterns  and textures, grids and lines and finishes that oppose one another. I’m  fascinated by those that occur in the natural world and those that are  cultivated by hand or by tool. The discovery of organic vegetable ivory  as a medium challenged any prior rigid design sense with its fluid and  unpredictable shape and nature. Studio time is intentionally playful. It  often consists of creating collages of several elements, then breaking  the complex designs down into their simplest, strongest components  revealing the final design.