My Granny introduced beads to me and I spent hours in the back room of her house looking at, touching and stringing them. In 1999, I sold my first piece of jewelry to a friend whose encouragement led me to start a business in 2000. I chose the name Heartfire to express my passion about and love of stones. Every year, I purchase gemstone beads and findings from vendors around the world at the International Gem Show in Tucson where I search for new and unusual stones. My jewelry is one-of-a-kind (and variations on themes) using gemstones that impart unique gifts; e.g. pearls bring joy and rose quartz brings unconditional love. My favorite gemstone is tourmaline, a heart chakra stone. It is the only gemstone that comes in all colors.

In the early 2000’s, I signed up for an introductory glass fusing class, again after the encouragement of a friend, at the Santa Rosa Junior College. I taught myself how to program my glass fusing kiln from the workbook of Phil Teefy, Sacramento, California. I am grateful to Monica Boettcher for her mentoring of glass techniques. I enjoy the collaboration with the glass as it often produces unexpected results as colors interact and change. My kilns and tools use renewable electrical energy supplied from our home solar system.

In addition to fusing layers of glass, I cast glass into molds and pull strands from a vitrigraph kiln. The paperweights, offering bowls and more are created by layering glass powder and frit (varying coarseness like sugar) in molds. The first layer on the bottom of the mold becomes the surface of the piece. For the glass strands, handmade sheets of nontoxic, lead-free glass are broken and put in a clay crucible which is placed in the vitrigraph kiln. This kiln is on a shelf 6 feet above the ground. When the glass reaches 1700 Fahrenheit, strands of glass are pulled by hand from the bottom opening of the kiln. The strands are layered on the shelf of a glass fusing kiln. After being fused, they are slumped or sagged over a mold. A piece can require two to seven firings.

Assembling the patterns, shapes and colors of the beads and glass is a consuming passion, literally the fire of my heart. My pieces are inspired by the four elements and seasons, nature, sacred texts and my dreams. I am pleased that both mediums can be reused in new pieces.

Pulling strands of glass from the vitrigraph kiln