Upon Mary’s retirement as a school administrator in 2006, she was able to focus on her interest in design and jewelry making. She started with beaded pieces, and began including wirework. She researched jewelry design, metalsmithing, semi-precious stones and precious metal clay work. She began taking classes to develop her technical skills so that she could make her design ideas come to life.
Mary’s travels through the Pacific Northwest, Southwest, Mexico and Europe have provided many opportunities to observe nature, color and design. Her love of nature, the ocean and underwater world has taken her to Hawaii, Australia and the Mexican Caribbean. These travels have inspired many of her pieces.
“I have always been attracted to designs that focus on line and color and I develop that style in my pieces. In working with silver and gold, I incorporate many of the lines and textures found in nature. I strive to bring out the natural color and beauty of the semi precious stone to create pieces that will enhance my customer’s appreciation of semi precious stones. I love the challenge of developing pieces for special events that will endure and transcend fads.”
Mary received her B.A. and M.S degrees at California State University, Fullerton. She has taken classes in Precious Metal Clay and is a certified PMC artisan. She lives and creates in Huntington Beach, CA.