I love old things. I'd rather spend a day in a thrift store than ten minutes in a mall, and I prefer attics to Ikea any time. I'm a word person — a story-gatherer and a story-teller — so a used book store is like a temple to me. When I started to make jewelry (a story way too long to tell here), I knew I had to incorporate my love of words, books, and stories into my work. So when you look through the glass "bubbles" on my bracelets, earrings, and necklaces, you'll see: - Tiny illustrations from antique children's books — enchanted castles, wishing stars, magic creatures — themed with words of wonder: dream, wish, aspire, create. - Images from old maps and atlases, telling the story of places we love — like my Austin map bracelet that shows Barton Springs, UT, the Capitol, and other landmarks. - Notes and notations from old sheet music and songbooks: treble and bass clefs, the harmony of perfect intervals, perfect grace notes, whole notes ascending a scale - And all kinds of ephemera: cookbooks, holy cards (on my "Guardian Angel" series), nostalgic family photos, you name it — if it's on paper, it will make its way into my jewelry! One of my favorite things to do is to make custom jewelry for people that incorporates the words and images that are important in their lives. I made a map bracelet once for someone's grandmother's 90th birthday. It showed her birthplace, the spot where her husband of 60 years proposed to her, the neighborhood where she brought up her family — the story of her whole life, really. And yes, I've made more than one bracelet that said "Will you marry me?" for thoughtful would-be fiances. (So far, they've all said yes!) After years of exhibiting my jewelry at Washington, DC's historic Eastern Market — and selling it nationally through galleries, gift shops, and catalogs — I'm thrilled to find a new artistic home at the Artists' Market here in Austin. You'll find me or my son Devin (also a jewelry artist, with a collection featuring Japanese anime and manga images) on Saturdays downtown at Mother Egan's. In the near future, I'll be adding some other kinds of book- and paper-based art to my collection there. I'm looking forward to growing my repetoire and contributing to this great community.