My Background

I first saw a small piece of flame worked glass more than a decade ago now. I was surprised to fall completely  in love and have remained loyal all of these years. 

There is a magic that happens at the torch as you melt glass and form a bead using a myriad of elements. That might be more glass~ be that cane I have created or crushed or powder. Metals can be applied in the flame in thin leaf form..  silver, gold, copper, palladium. Each of these develop in a unique way and each bead becomes a small work of art, the artist being

 limited only by only their own imagination. 

I began to sell loose beads to jewelry designers online and named my little business 'SweetWater' Designs as a tribute to my beloved Dad  and our ranch on the Halfway river which he named the 'Sweetwater' 

 I now sell my handmade lamp beads and gemstone jewelry under my own name and reside in the peaceful, scenic Birch Bay, Wa. with my beloved husband and our sweet little rescue papillon boyo, Jack. 

The act of melting glass in the torch and turning it over onto a  mudded mandrel is a form of active meditation. It's magical and mesmerizing. It stills my mind and my soul. The trip to the kiln in the morning to check my previous days work is always a gift. Some days a gift that disappoints, but still a sweet gift. 

Each lamp glass bead that is used in my jewelry has been crafted first in my torch using rods of Murano glass from Italy, Germany and China,  also some US specialty glass. Beads are then chosen and paired with gemstones, sterling silver, copper, and brass metals. It's a lovely dance.

"Although lack of a precise definition for lampworking makes it difficult to determine when this technique was first developed, the earliest verifiable lampworked glass is probably a collection of beads thought to date to the fifth century BC". [ from wiki]

I have a love for organic works of art.  

The countryside in the wilds of British Columbia are compelling and beautiful. The colors of the earth are always changing. There is a distinct perfume to each of the seasons. The the new sap running through the birch in the Spring, the heady, sweet scent of fuchsia colored rose hips in the Summer, the slightly acrid smell of the decomposing undergrowth in the Fall.. and somewhere, always a faint smell of smoke hanging in the dense, icy air of Winter.

All of these elements have somehow carved their way into my bones and no matter how far I travel or how many years pass, they will forever be a part of me. Earth washed colors, surprising textures, and graceful flow of movement using chain, charms and dangles...This mimic of natural elements is a wonderful play ground that I take constant delight in.