The romance with glass began more than a decade ago and was fueled by a visit to a small boutique that had a display set up with several small flame worked Christmas tree ornaments. When I mentioned to the owner how beautiful something so simple was, the woman replied that the technique was called 'lampwork' and her husband crafted them with glass rods and a torch. This statement fascinated and intrigued me, and so months later when I happened across a listing on EBay for a lampwork kit it seemed like kismet.

That was the start of a journey down a very long rabbit hole. 

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In time, I began a business supplying jewelry designers with my handmade glass beads.  The business was named Sweetwater, in memory of my childhood.  

As a young girl, our family of 8 moved from Vancouver Island to several hundred acres of pristine land on a remote northern corner of British Columbia, near the Halfway River.  There was an underground stream of crystal clear water that bubbled up out of the earth year round and because of that, our cattle ranch became know as the 'Sweetwater'. 

Although I now sell my jewelry designs under my own name, familial elements are core and you will always find the presence of 'Sweetwater' in some of my work.  Family roots run deep and influence much of what is created in my  studio.  Love for the earth influences all of my work.     

I now live in western Washington with my beloved better half and our sweet boy, a Papillon mix named George.     

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Using slim rods of raw glass, a torch and mudded mandrels, I make glass beads to be used in my own jewelry. 

The entire process is usually quite internal for me as I let my instincts choose the colors and the materials that I’ll use in the beads that day..sometimes that's more glass in crushed or powdered form, sometimes it is metals in the form of paper thin sheets, sometimes dichroic bits to add glitz and light…the choices are too numerous to be listed here. 

While designing I add semi-precious stones [from a rapidly growing collection of cabochons!] to further enhance and complement the glass.

I frequently employ traditional silversmith techniques to set these stones, crafting bracelets and necklaces into unique and distinctive pieces that are exclusively yours.  

𝔹𝕖𝕔𝕒𝕦𝕤𝕖 𝕀 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖 𝕥𝕠 𝕨𝕖𝕒𝕣 𝕓𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕥𝕤,  𝕥𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕚𝕤 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕕𝕠𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕤 𝕞𝕪 𝕨𝕠𝕣𝕜.
      

                    ~⚘𝕋𝕙𝕚𝕤 𝕚𝕤 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕞𝕪 𝕘𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝕡𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖.⚘

My raven logo was drawn by my granddaughter and approved by my grandson! 

Miss Kenzie herself came to me one day with her beautiful, thoughtful drawing of a little bird. Around the bird she had written her lovely  story. 

                                       It read,  

'ᵀʰⁱˢ ᵍʳᵉᵉⁿ ᵇⁱʳᵈ ⁱˢ ᵗʳʸⁱⁿᵍ ᵗᵒ ᶠˡʸ. ᴬⁿᵈ ᵒⁿᵉ ᵈᵃʸ ʰᵉ ᶠˡᵉʷ'

                    How very beautiful is that. 

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