The artistic heart of my life was first and foremost music. I began
playing piano at age of 4 and studied for many years. My artistic life
was transformed in my retirement years by a series of events. My brother
bought a turquoise mine whose stones inspired me to think of jewelry making.
I found a wonderful silversmithing teacher, Lu Manos, in Pocatello, Idaho,
and silversmithing became the most fascinating thing in my life. I
also studied with Jay Kidwell at the junior college in Lake Havasu AZ and
he influenced my designing a great deal.
I work primarily in
lost wax casting, and my stones and organic materials, such as grasses, flowers,
seed pods and sagebrush, guide my designs. I've entered very few shows.
Instead, my rewards are the praise of my friends and relatives who have inspired
or commissioned my work and worn my jewelry for decades. Like the Native
Americans, I always work in silver, but I disapprove of copying their designs.
In the last few years
I have enjoyed basket making with the Great Basin Basketmakers Guild of Reno
NV. Baskets are also organic and a faster expression of the artistic
impulse.

Photograph by Sarah
E. McKibben |