I have taken an unusual and circuitous path to doing work as a consultant, editor, and branding specialist. I have Bachelor’s and Master's degrees, both in Fine Arts with a concentration in Jewelry and Metalsmithing. Being a jeweler was all I ever wanted to do and I pursued that goal voraciously. Once I finished graduate school, I worked as a full-time, self-employed jeweler specializing in custom work. I loved working with my clients and made a lot of engagement and wedding rings as well as one-of-a-kind pieces that were designed specifically for their wearers. I also created my own work, both wearable production lines as well as concept-based art jewelry.

My greatest passion in jewelry was wax carving and casting. The sculptural possibilities are endless; it can be both an additive and reductive process and offers the chance to make molds, cast multiples, and build a library of molds which can be altered and recombined in endless ways.

I taught workshops nationwide, and taught a few semesters at the University level as a sabbatical replacement.

I was also on the Board of The Society of North American Goldsmiths. I served on the Executive Committee, chaired the Social Media Committee, and worked on website development as well as various other projects.

In short, I loved my career. I never wanted to do anything else.

In an effort to avoid a total meltdown, I decided to pursue a project I’d had in the back of my mind for a decade… I approached my dear friend and colleague, Renée Zettle-Sterling, about writing a book about casting. She said yes and we were off.

Writing CAST: Art and Objects Made Using Humanity’s Most Transformational Process was a three and a half year adventure I will never forget. 

Our initial idea was to create a modest little book about casting in jewelry and metalsmithing. Eventually, the book became a 456 page monster that includes every castable material we could think of as well as  the history of the casting process, some examples even pre-dating The Bronze Age.

CAST garnered remarkable critical acclaim and was made available around the world - even in The Metropolitan Museum of Art bookstore which felt like an unimaginable benchmark.

Renee and I gave talks all over the country about CAST and we had a blast working together, start to finish. We curated an exhibition based on the book at The Wayne Art Center in Wayne, PA and we were invited to write an article in Metalsmith magazine as well. This experience exceeded all expectations and was one of the best things I’ve ever done.

CAST remains the only book of its kind. It is a seminal text that explores the broad possibilities of this diverse and ubiquitous process.

To learn more about CAST, please visit our website.

It is hard to describe the profound sense of loss that came with losing my jewelry career.

Serving on the Board of SNAG and writing CAST helped me to redefine myself and begin healing; I rediscovered my love of writing, sharpened my graphic design and Photoshop skills, and I honed my ability to distill and craft a compelling, nuanced, and persuasive story.

During this time, I began helping a handful of friends with proofreading, editing, idea generation, and various projects. Over the years, I have helped more family, friends, and even friends of friends as word has spread. I have assisted with job applications, refined résumés, assisted with renegotiating salaries, developed logos and branding, designed marketing materials and worked on websites, proofread sabbatical applications, helped develop syllabi, edited applications to college and graduate school, and I’ve co-written several grant applications. I find the work very satisfying and I especially enjoy seeing people I care about achieve their goals.

I have continued to help friends and family in this way ever since. Some projects are quick proofreading exercises and others have taken hundreds of hours. In the course of doing this work, almost everyone I’ve helped has told me I should consider doing this professionally. While listening is at the very core of this work, when it came to this loving suggestion, I dismissed it. But as the universe does, the drumbeat of this message seemed to get louder and more frequent as time has gone on and I finally decided to heed the suggestion.

I am looking forward to this next chapter. I love honing people’s ideas and playing a part in their successes. Each person faces different challenges and comes with different strengths so every project is its own unique problem to solve. There’s nothing more gratifying than seeing people achieve and exceed their own expectations.