Julia loved the "otolith" bone earrings that her partner, Neil, had made for her. Right after receiving them from Neil she contacted me and made a request for a custom set of earrings. She sent me a picture of a Celtic design which symbolized a mother and her child. Julia wanted me to create a pair of fine silver earrings to be given to someone who has been a much loved lactation consultant in the NICU in Edmonton for 35 years. She wanted to mark the significance of her friend's contribution to the field that she was an expert in. This was a challenging and rewarding piece of jewelry to make. The challenge was to try to make each earring the same in size and dimension with each curve. I always let the client know that the pieces will not be "perfect" but "imperfect" at the same time. In the end the piece turned out to be a statement and clearly revealed the image of a mother with her child. Thank you Julia!
The Story of Orange Avocado Jewelry...
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"Otolith" Bone Earrings - Feathers of the Sea
Published Mar 29 2016 in Custom Pieces
Neil requested a custom set of earrings for his partner Julia. He had collected these beautiful "otolith" bones from the Yelloweye snapper, caught in Haida Gwaii off the coast of BC, just south of Alaska. These fragile bones looked like delicate feathers or angel wings. After various attempts at wire wrapping and drilling holes (luckily Neil had a quite a collection of these bones), I decided that the safest and securest way was to use an epoxy on a set of earrings from my current collection. Well, Julia loved them, and now she requested a special custom set of earrings for her friend...stay tuned for the story behind those. Thank you Neil for entrusting your beautiful artifacts to me.
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It's Personal: A Love Story
Published Feb 07 2016 in Custom Pieces
It's always interesting finding out how people discover my work. Sandy found my website on the internet and contacted me about a custom piece for him and his girlfriend, Bregane. Bregane requested a Coordinates Necklace signifying a special location in Montreal where she first met Sandy. She then wanted to layer it with another longer necklace with her boyfriend's initials on a hammered circle pendant. She wanted something sweet and simple that meant a lot to her. Sandy's nickname for his girlfriend is BELLA, which I made in a fine silver pendant with black shiny onyx beads. I loved the thought that Sandy and Bregane put into creating this set. Thank you Sandy and Bregane! Young love; so sweet. -
Working on some Beautiful...
Published Jan 03 2016 in New Collections
Of beautiful things to come for my SS16 Collections. Just finished metalworking these freeform bronze beads and pendants. My work day begins with some pencil sketches and then bringing those sketches to life. My daughter Erin, looked at my plans and said "that's a lot of work". Making individual beads, by hand, one by one, is a long process. I actually scale out how much bronze each bead will take. I like to vary the sizes which gives me more freedom in the end to create whatever I want. I pulled these bronze pieces out of my kiln at 2:00 am because I was excited to see how they would turn out. Okay, I'm just a little obsessed. Now time to execute my plans, which always change in the end. That's the beauty of creating something by hand; one by one. Things change and evolve just like my jewelry. I love it. -
True Gold
Published Dec 03 2015 in Events
“True”: To be faithful and loyal. To be real and genuine. To be honest to yourself.
The day of each my jewelry shows is always a whirlwind of activity. It is always so great to see my customers come out each year to support a local business. You are faithful and loyal. I am so overwhelmed with gratitude. It was a record turnout this year, thank you.
This is just a little snapshot of just a few of my friends and family that come out each show to help me: Tracy, Jackie, Erin, Debbie, Catherine and not in the picture: Kim, Roma, Najat, Lisa, Sandra. Without you I couldn’t hold my jewelry show. You are real and genuine friends who take a day off work who leave their busy daily schedules to help me. I hope that it is a fun and exciting day for you. It was for me and you make it possible!
And everyday as I create a new piece of jewelry I ask myself: is it true me? Because in the end it is about staying true to yourself.
So thank you.
