gras 'roots URBAN

BIO

Raised by artisans on Cortes Island I didn't intend on being an artisan myself, but I'm not at all surprised it turned out that way. Every summer, since I was a baby, my parents brought me to the Filberg Festival and, because of that, it has been a dream of mine to have a booth at the festival. My creative journey started as a creative outlet when my Mom was battling cancer. I had a successful business that I temporarily gave up to take care of her, but fell so in love with designing jewelry that I didn't go back. At first I worked in our guest room and then took over the dining room and part of the garage. It became clear that I needed a proper work space so my husband and I moved to Royston so I could build a studio. Unfortunately that studio had to be used as storage while we built our house so I worked in a small corner of the unfinished space with a head lamp and layers of jackets - for a year and a half. The day it was insulated, drywalled and painted was surreal and it did exactly what I had hoped, which was to expand my hobby, turned side hustle into full time work. Everything was going as it should but I was still struggling with recovering from a head injury and it became apparent that I couldn't forge metal anymore. I was devastated. My husband and I were discussing the loss of everything I had worked so hard for and what would be next when, very literally and very randomly the next day, I discovered polymer clay. I spent a week researching the material (I am very conscious of environment and toxicity), bought a few blocks of the clay to experiment with and a week after that purchased all of the tools needed, even before fully understanding the medium. I had faith that I had the talent and drive to make it work - I just had to. It saved my business and opened a whole new world of creativity, which I enjoy even more than metal smithing, and am forever grateful to have found. There is something beautiful in knowing that such devastating things could bring about so much joy and fulfillment.

CRAFT

I work mostly in polymer clay but also acetate, metal (14kt gold filled, sterling silver, pure brass) and glass. Polymer clay is a plastic material so I am very intentional with my designing and making process so that there is little waste. Acetate is naturally derived from cellulose, which is biodegradable, and all of the metals I use are pure and can be melted down and reused (I use this process when I reticulate). The glass is recycled and hand cultured or hand blown. Every piece of jewelry is shaped, cut, sanded, machined, polished and assembled by hand, with care, by myself and my husband.

LINKS