Computer programmer by day, artist by night, I hold BS and MS degrees in Art Education and I’ve worked with polymer clay since 1995. I am a past President of the International Polymer Clay Association and co-founder and first President of the Southern Connecticut Polymer Clay Guild. My focus is on jewelry design and bead making, and the most exciting part of my artistic journey is sharing the techniques I’ve developed. I love introducing new students to the infinite creative expressions available with polymer clay and watching their eyes light up!

My work has been awarded top honors in juried shows throughout the country, including two first place ribbons in the polymer clay division of Bead & Button’s Bead Dreams competition and a first place in Lapidary Journal’s Bead Art Awards, the first time polymer clay won the clay category. My work has also been published in numerous books such as Polymer Clay Creative Traditions, 400 Designs: A Collection of Dynamic and Colorful Contemporary Work, and Faux Surfaces in Polymer Clay: 30 Techniques & Projects that Imitate Precious Stones, Metals, Wood & More. My craft projects, including step-by-step instructions, have been published in many magazines, such as Lapidary Journal, Bead & Button, Decorating Digest, Expressions and Polymer Café. Most of my art is inspired by the tints, tones and textures of the rocky New England seashore where I grew up, an island lake in New Hampshire where my family vacationed every summer and the brilliant, exuberant hues of tropical locales, real and imagined.

In 1999, I started work on a continuing series entitled Big Beads, which interprets traditional bead forms in exaggerated scale. The largest to date, is a Zuni Turquoise Bear, about 10” long, 8” high and 2 ½” deep. I enjoy the challenge of exploring the size and structural limits of polymer.

I’ve been married to my best friend and biggest supporter, Erick, for more than 26 years. We live on the Connecticut shoreline with possibly too many cats.