I was born in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and count myself as very fortunate to have had this beautiful part of the world with its mountains and lakes as the backdrop to my childhood. Drawing was something that I always did, if I wasn’t sketching horses and dinosaurs I was designing ladies fashions working from my mother’s sewing patterns.
I studied Business at Washington State University, but after a short spell in the corporate world left to pursue my true love, art.
After graduating from Seattle’s School of Visual Concepts I taught life drawing and illustration, and became a freelance illustrator working for clients such as Microsoft, British Airways and the Seattle Supersonics basketball team. I have also enjoyed a successful career as a children’s book illustrator having over 30 children’s early reading books published.
In 1998 I took what was meant to be a short sabbatical in Southern Spain where I met my husband Stephen. He had a silver jewellery business and asked me if I would be interested in developing some new designs. It didn’t take long for me to realise that my illustrator’s love of colour and form lent itself well to designing jewellery whether taking a literal form or conjuring an image with the use of natural stones.
My inspirations are many and varied; from the world of fashion to the flora and fauna of our local Sussex countryside. Often inspiration comes from unexpected places; a recent visit to a small church in Kent with beautiful stained glass windows by the artist Marc Chagall lead to me designing the luminosity natural gemstone collection. Probably my biggest source of inspiration comes from my family and friends who are constantly supportive, encouraging and always full of great ideas.