I was introduced to woodturning while in high school woodshop, but it wasn’t until 22 years later, that I once again stepped in front of a lathe. In 1998 I sold my business leaving a successful career in Vocational Rehabilitation to become a stay-at-home Mom with my infant son. At that time my husband presented me with a lathe. Sixteen months later my daughter was born. With two small children my time at the lathe was severely limited, but as they grow I have more time to dedicate to my love of spinning wood.

I have a brief background in pottery, which introduced me to the importance of form and design. It is my opinion that no matter what you do to enhance a turning, whether branding, pyrography, coloring, texturing, or carving, it will all be for naught if the original form is not pleasing. I have spent my beginning years in woodturning in search of excellent form. Wood is meant to be touched. My goal is to create work that begs to be picked up and caressed.

I had the good fortune to hear a well known turner speak on the subject of finding inspiration for our work. He recommended looking to our passions and interests outside of woodturning and discover a way to express it in our work. Since childhood I have been fascinated by North American native cultures, and petroglyphs such as found on the rocks in the Columbia Plateau (Pacific Northwest), and in the caves of Lascaux, France. Through the use of pyrography, their influences can be seen in my work.