I would like to introduce myself and welcome you to my blog. I am a fused glass artist who lives in south Florida with my husband and our cairn terrier "Zoe". I have a grown son and daughter, four granddaughters, one grandson, two granddogs and a soon-to-be grandcat. I am a retired social worker and worked for a number of years in the mental health field. In the early 1990's I retired to the mountains in Colorado and decided to try and find a creative outlet for myself. I started painting gourds and making gourd and fiber masks. I did this for appx. 10 years and did shows and worked with various western and southwest galleries. We then decided to move back east to be closer to our families. I continued to work with the gourds and with a gallery in Key West for another three years until I realized that I was really needing a change. A friend had decided to take a fused glass class at the local high school and invited me to go with her. I did and that was the beginning of a new venture. I continued to take classes in glass fusing and thought I would focus on making mirrors. I bought a large kiln and the challenge began. I made two very large wall mirrors that had to be made in sections and then assembled. One hangs in my home and one in my daughter's. I decided that was going to be too much and I needed to think smaller. I then began making smaller mirrors which I sell though a local gallery and then got interested in making jewelry. I purchased a smaller kiln and one that didn't intimidate me quite so much and I now focus on making jewelry and smaller items. I have two online shops - one on Etsy and one on Artfire - where I sell my jewelry and small home decor items.
In addition to working in my studio, I love gardening and being outdoors. Fortunately for me, our climate here allows me to do both. I also like to read and belong to a fun Book Club. I volunteer with the local Humane Society working with the Boys & Girls Club, visiting nursing homes, and attending special events with my certified therapy dog. I have done the pet therapy work for 8 years.

I live within a couple of hours of my daughter's home so I spend alot of time with two of my granddaughters and my grandson. Unfortunately my son and his family live in Maryland so we only see them two or three times a year.

I look forward to getting to know many of you better and hope you will continue to check out this blog and my shops. I am new to blogging so you will have to bear with me while I fumble and stumple through trying to figure out how to add things, arrange things, delete things, etc. Another challenge awaits me......