One summer day in a sleepy fisherman’s town on Long Island, my hometown, my best friend and I were left to our own devices for entertainment while it poured outside. Being a precocious 10 year old and always up for adventure, I needed to find a good solution to our boredom problem. We started sifting through anything in the house to play with, we got to my parents room and I saw the decorated box on the dresser and knew this would be our temporary savior. We opened it to find a treasure I knew was forbidden for my clumsy, grubby hands, but with the hypnotizing allure of my mother’s jewelry I forgot about any kind of trouble that would occur and set my sights on diamond and pearl raindrops in a land far away.

With the ominous steps of authority approaching and a complete mess of clothes, make-up and my mother’s jewels strewn about, we stood courageously waiting for the trouble we had earlier ignored. In lipstick on everything but our lips, shoes fit for a clown and gaudy amounts of necklaces, rings and bracelets glittering; we appeared to be the biggest jewelry store heist by the greatest 10 year old minds to date. My mom turned the corner and caught us red handed, she saw her most valued jewelry dangling from our necks. But to our relief she smiled, sat down and put on one of her rings saying, “Your father gave me this one for our anniversary, isn’t it beautiful?”

Then she told me to pick out my favorite one and unknowing I looked at the gleaming pile and picked one. She put it around my neck and explained the importance of its care. It had been my grandmother’s favorite, who had been a fine seamstress, and whose elegant and graceful style has been a wonderful source of artistic, creative and intellectual inspiration.

Growing up, my parents always nurtured my passion for artistic and technical endeavors. They bought me my first rock polisher and crystal growing science kits, supplied all my charcoal and pencils and my first camera. All this creative support inspired my work at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC and Southampton College on the east end of Long Island, where I graduated with a B.F.A in Fine Art. I worked for many fashion houses in NYC for a few years, but I decided to move to San Diego where a new culture could expand my experiences and help me decide what I really wanted to do. A couple years later, I just stumbled upon a metalsmithing shop and at that moment, I just knew that was it. I applied for and received the coveted scholarship from the William Goldberg Diamond Corporation in NYC, and attended GIA, The Gemological Institute of America in Carlsbad, California and received my G.J in Jewelry Manufacturing Arts.

I worked for many years for other jewelers, but found I never had time to make my own designs and also wasn’t finding the kind of modern jewelry that I would want to wear. So, I started my own company. I feel so fortunate to wake up every day and go to my studio and do what I love, and I put that love in every handcrafted piece you see today.