Starting with a sketch, I saw an image out of a thick sheet of silver or gold, often layering another sawn image over that.

Building layer upon layer, I define and refine the design as I go - absolutely direct (no casting) and very organic.

I do in miniature what a carpenter does in large. I use sheets and boards of silver and gold, hand saw, hammer, file, and drill.

The important difference is that instead of nailing and screwing things together, I use fire.

I cut hundreds of tiny pieces of solder (think coarse ground pepper) that I pick up with tweezers and lay one at a time on the metal.

Under the flame of my torch, the tiny pieces of silver amalgam melt and run between the layers of silver, forming a powerful and permanent bond.

I also work stone into lush polished gems by sawing the rough rock into thin slabs and sketching shapes directly onto the stone, cutting and polishing it with diamond-edged blades and wheels until it is smooth and glowing, revealing its beautiful heart to
the world.

All the materials I use come directly out of the earth... formed deep underground in all their color and sparkle and glow, held in the dark for ages we can only imagine.

I don't take these gifts lightly, and mean to make of them objects that last, growing more beautiful as they gain age and patina with wear. They are meant to outlast us and live on as testament to the power and beauty of the earth and the love of one human being who tries to give her own small creation back to the great.

    

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