I started making jewelry at Christmas time 2006; one of my sons was shopping for painting supplies and I ended up passing the time in the bead aisle. Before I knew it, I started creating stretch bracelets from beads.

I have always liked jewelry, and have studied, seen and bought a lot of Southwestern and Indian jewelry over the years. Beading and making bracelets became a way to continue that interest and make something of my own. It was also a way to make bracelets that are more unique and colorful than most run of the mill jewelry, especially jewelry made for men.

Jewelry making has also proved to be a great escape from the pressures and stress of my day job. Professionally, I am a lawyer representing children with cases in New York City Family Court, many of whom are in foster care. After many years I could write volumes about what I have seen, but it is enough to say that after an emotionally and physically draining day, it is a relief to sit down to make a piece of jewelry. It is a complicated, yet predicable task, requiring a focus and precision that gets rid of all the other stuff in my head. And, the best part is that when I am finished, I have a thing of beauty that I created.

After starting with bead stretch bracelets, I began to think of other types of jewelry I could make. First came seed bead necklaces with one or several focal beads. I also experimented with bead weaving, bead knotting, Kumihimo and other techniques.

Somewhere along the way I discovered chainmaille, and fell in love with the intricate designs, the work needed to make them and the jewelry that resulted. Chainmaille also appeals to me because of its puzzle like nature, each new weave is a challenge to be mastered; and the increasingly intricate designs appeal to my architectural sensibility.

Finally, there is the math of chainmaille, mastering the gauge sizes, the ring sizes, the aspect ratios, the conversions from Imperial to metric; figuring out what I need for each piece brings back some of that lost math from high school.

Most of my learning in chainmaille has been self taught. I have taken a few classes, but my main method of learning weaves is to get instructions and figure out both the instructions and then the weave on my own. Mastering the weave is then a double accomplishment.

Over the years my work in chainmaille has included a wide variety of metal types, I have tried colored or anodized metals, I have included beads of all sorts in chainmaille pieces, and I even made one piece with steel washers I bought at the hardware store.

Recently my imagination has been going in two directions. On the one hand I am working with "pure" chainmaille, metal in classic versions of the weaves. I try to learn new weaves as often as possible. On the other hand I am envisioning pieces that have pure chainmaille elements, with stones or glass thrown in for color and focus. Ideas come from everywhere, museum exhibitions, jewelry shops and shows, advertisements; I even have a bracelet project that will mimic the patterns of a Gila Monster in a photo from a magazine.

My creative philosophy is that jewelry should be for everyone and wearable all the time. Thus, much of what I make is designed for both women and men, especially the stretch bracelets and the chainmaille, though perhaps not many of the necklaces and earrings. That being said, my mind is open, if you like it, and want to wear it, that's great.

I strive to create jewelry that is affordable and that can be worn every day to all occasions. I try to keep the designs and the structure of the jewelry, what I call the "architecture", simple and clean so that it can be worn while working, playing, relaxing, and celebrating.

My goal is to create jewelry that is useful and attractive; that the owner loves to wear and loves to look at, and most important, makes the wearer feel better by wearing it.