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As a professional designer, educated at the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Architecture, I’ve explored many different media and have found my passion in creating Fine Art Beadwork and jewellery fashioned from sterling silver, often incorporating gorgeous beads.

I am continually inspired by the tactile nature of beads, the endless texture and colour stories that can be created with them, and the complex artistic possibilities they offer. Each time I discover a new bead or object to incorporate into my work is joyous, and creates a burst of creative thought processes.

The Fine Art Beadwork that I create is extremely labour intensive, requiring countless hours per piece to sew on each bead one or two at a time -- I find the process to be very meditative, and each finished piece is truly a labour of Love, artistic expression, and creativity. I am inspired by many things around me, both tangible and intangible: light; water; patterns, textures, and colours in nature; mothering; the strength and resilience of the soul; and the physical, emotional, spiritual aspects of the human experience.

Using a torch to soften, bond, and melt, hammers, saws, files, and other glorious tools to shape and form sterling silver into one-of-a-kind pieces of jewellery, my passion for beads occasionally finds its way into these personal adornments. I incorporate a carefully selected rainbow of beautiful, high quality beads into earrings, bracelets, rings, and neckwear.

The beads used in my jewellery are greatly varied in shape, colour, material, and size. A few of the wonderful treasures I have the great joy of utilising include: semiprecious stones from all corners of the earth; fairly traded hand-made sterling silver beads from Bali, and from the Karen Hill Tribes; one-of-a-kind hand made glass lampwork from talented, self-representing artists; fresh water pearls; Swarovski® Crystals from Austria; antiques from Europe; glass from Czechoslovakia, Japan, and Venice; and organic gems such as amber, Paua shell, mother of pearl, and abalone

Awards & Publications:
~ December 2006 - "Bead & Button" Magazine (Kalmbach Publishing). Fine art beadwork piece featured.
~ Summer 2006 - "Cahoots" Magazine, Cover: fine art beadwork piece
~ December 2004/January 2005 - "Beadwork" Magazine (Interweave Press), fine art beadwork piece featured
~ 2004 Valley Arts Council Annual Juried Art Exhibit; Festival Hall Gallery:
1st Place Mixed Media Category, Professional
~ December 2003/January 2004 - "Beadwork" Magazine (Interweave Press), fine art beadwork piece featured
~ 2003 - Valley Arts Council Annual Juried Art Exhibit; Festival Hall Gallery :
2nd Place Mixed Media Category, Amateur