ARTIST’S STATEMENT - for lampwork beads and jewelry

Color is the element that inspires most of my work; glass is the medium I choose to express my love of color. Making glass beads fulfills a long held dream that has become a passion. While the single bead can be an artwork complete in itself, combining the beads with metal in jewelry allows them to be worn and enjoyed as unique adornment. My goal is to create jewelry that is beautiful, functional and a pleasure to wear.

TECHNIQUE:

How lampwork glass beads are made:
Each bead is handmade in the flame of a torch, using glass canes from Italy, Germany and the USA. The canes of glass are melted onto a steel rod as it is slowly rotated in the flame. Layers of molten glass are twisted, wrapped, shaped and re-heated until the design is complete. The bead is then placed in a kiln to release the stress from the glass and strengthen the bead.

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS 1982-2003

Essential Element V - Jade Monterey Bay Metal Arts Guild Show
Local Color, Big Sur, CA (2003)

Cup - Monterey Bay Metal Arts Guild
Winfield Gallery, Carmel, CA (2003)

Reflections in Metal and Essential Element IV- Gold Monterey Bay Metal Arts Guild Show Pacific Grove Art Center, Pacific Grove, CA (2002)

Essential Element III – Glass - Monterey Bay Metal Arts Guild Show
Monterey Bay Glass School, Monterey, CA (2001)

Specific Gravity - Monterey Bay Metal Arts Guild Show
Monterey Peninsula College, Monterey, CA (2001)

Bridging the Millennium - Monterey Bay Metal Arts Guild Show
Pacific Grove Art Center, Pacific Grove, CA (2000)

International Juried Enamel Exhibition – Northern California Enamel Guild
Richmond Art Center, Richmond, CA (2000)

Talismans for the Coming Millennium - Society for Midwest Metalsmiths
St. Louis, MO 63134 (1999)

Glass+Metal - Third International Juried Enamel Exhibition
Insight Gallery, San Francisco, CA (1998)

Tradition & Transformation: Enamels 97 – International Enamelist Society
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Gatlinburg, TN (1997)

Mind Over Metal - Monterey Bay Metal Arts Guild Show
Santa Cruz Museum of Art, Santa Cruz, CA (1997)

Monterey Bay Metal Arts Guild Show
The Vandon Collection, Pacific Grove, CA (1995)

Featured Artist - White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR (1991)

Time and Tide - White Bird Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR ( 1990)

Featured Artist - Sea Fantasies, Monterey, CA (1988)

California Jewelry - Santa Rosa J.C., Santa Rosa (1987)

The New West - America House, Tenafly, NJ (1986)

Featured Artist - Del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (1986)

Carol Holaday and Aleris Zeitler - Concepts, Carmel CA (1985)

Northern California Jewelers - Redding Museum, CA (1984)

Flights and Fantasies - Equus, Redondo Beach, CA (1983)

Jewelry Invitational - Huntington Galleries, Fine Arts Museum Huntington, WV (1982)