I’ve always loved working with my hands. I majored in Fine Arts at Roosevelt University in Chicago back in the early 70s. My favorite class was in crafts where I learned to do macramé and tie-dye. Another class taught me the rudiments of pottery and jewelry making, where I learned I had a natural knack for jewelry making.
After I left school I got a job with a jeweler, where I learned a lot about working with metal. I really enjoyed the job, but she moved a year after I started with her.
By now I couldn’t think of anything else I’d rather do than make jewelry. I had a couple of other craft-related jobs, including working for a tie-dyer (remember, this was the 70s!), and another working for the renowned macramé (still in the 70s!) artist Clair Zisler while she was making several pieces for a major museum exhibit.
After that project was completed I wanted to focus on my real love, jewelry. I learned photography and started creating pieces and applying to art and craft fairs. I traveled around the Midwest attending fairs, including the prestigious Ann Arbor Art Fair. I was also a member of the Artisans 21 craft co-op in Hyde Park, Chicago.
About 30 years ago my husband got a job in Colorado. While we love it here, the art and craft fair scene was not nearly as big as it was in the Midwest, so I eventually sold off my studio and “retired” as a creator. By then we had started an online store and I devoted all my time to that.
I recently became interested in working with polymer clay while watching an English TV show, “The Great Pottery Throw Down”. It became one of my favorite contestant shows of all time. On one of the episodes, one of the challenges was to make a multi layered clay into a pot. I just couldn’t get it out of my head, and during the pandemic crisis I was becoming increasing despondent. Our work on the store was slowing down so I told my husband that I really wanted to try working with polymer clay.
I did a lot of research, then ordered some clay and tools. It took a while to find the right kind of clay for what I wanted to do, and learn to work with it.
Since then, I’ve been working every day on making fanciful and colorful pieces of jewelry, and each day I am finding myself honing and refining the techniques I am employing. I am experiencing the sheer joy of discovery and satisfaction that comes with a job well executed! I have so many ideas that I hope that I will never run out of ideas to play with, because I hope to never grow tired of working with this medium!