All work created after my graduation from Western Michigan University. Check back! This page is always under construction; new work added often!

Shoreline: 1991-2012 is a collection of both wearable and non-wearable metals/jewelry works, textiles, and prints capturing my own memories of shorelines. In 1991, at the age of two, I moved with my family to the lakeside city of Holland, Michigan. Growing up Holland, I was always near the water and my love for all things aquatic bloomed. Swimming, fishing, boating, and exploring what washed up in the sand were regular activities that enamored my attentions. As an adult my attention is still rapt with water and shorelines as I travel to new places. It is at these coasts where I find my refuge, meditating on the tranquility of the water before me. Like many who return home with souvenirs from the shore, I assemble my own souvenirs into works that constantly remind me of my respite at the shoreline.

"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there" -L.P. Hartley "The Go-Between"

How do we store our memories to connect with our past? Inspired by L.P. Hartley's character removing childhood items from a bundle and being flooded with memories, Youth in Boxes creates a box that can be taken with you at any time.

Childhood is full of new discoveries where the most mundane item or object can be filled with splendor. The objects chosen for Youth in Boxes are carefully collected childhood detritus from children at various ages; age 2 (the brooch) and age 4 (the necklace). These objects brought joy to a child for a brief moment in their existence, and perhaps in the future, a sense of nostalgia.