I started working with metal in high school when I enrolled in a jewelry class. As my interest in jewelry and metalsmithing grew, so did my confidence with handling the tools and processes. I was fortunate to have mentors in college who encouraged experimentation and self-expression rather than the dogma of a school style, which was a popular pursuit of some art schools at the time. The combination of puns with mechanical movements in miniature became my challenge. The goal was to illustrate a pun with as many different movements in as small a space as possible. I moved on to miniature toy rings, biographical necklaces, and now, reliquaries.
After teaching for two years at Oklahoma State University where I started a jewelry program, I moved to Syracuse, New York where I teach all levels of jewelry and metalsmithing at Syracuse University.