“I’m a jewelry maker, and that means a lot of different things to different people. I mostly am a metal worker and an enamelist. I work with sterling silver, copper, brass, and enamel to create jewelry of all different kinds, mostly earrings and pendants but also rings and sometimes bracelets.
I’ve had the privilege of making a lot of memorial pieces for people – commissioned pieces that help them remember a special person in their life. I’ve gotten to use things like marbles that were leftover from a house fire, which were like the only objects left. The client wanted me to turn them into some pendants for her family. That was very special.
I’ve also used parents’ wedding bands and melted them down and rolled them into sheet to make something completely new, but it’s still a piece of their parents that they get to wear. I created a bunch of different pieces of jewelry that end up being a symbol for somebody marking an important event in their life or a transition point or something like that.
I grew up here. I went to college here. My husband Andrew and I lived away for just a year and then we decided to come back because there’s nothing like a small town, especially like Goshen, to network. It’s just wonderful having so many different connections to the owners of businesses downtown. Usually, if somebody has a need, you can just say, ‘Oh, talk to so and so,’ or they can connect you with somebody who can help you out.
I’ve really appreciated the different efforts that have happened over the years since I’ve been making art in the community. There have been, obviously, different festivals like Arts on the Millrace. Different things like The Local and the millrace guilds that are very supportive of artists. I know who to talk to, who to organize with if I want to create an event. It’s a great place to be an artist.”