Some things may come and go but I think my inspirations are always going to revolve around these things:

Idaho & New Mexico

Catholicism (more specifically liturgy and icons, more specifically than that —> Mary/Virgin of Guadalupe/doves/flames/hearts)

Antique Mexican Jewelry

1930s – 1960s Native American Jewelry

High Desert Light (high desert everything)

Rivers

Mortality vs Immortality (life and death cycles and energy transference) —>bones —>wildflowers—>ethers

American Country Culture (cowboys and indians, steel guitar, trucks, boots, bandanas, horses, dust, grit, rodeo, love and stars and heartbreak and freedom)

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For years I’ve resisted referring to my jewelry style as “Western” but I think it’s safe to say I make Western jewelry.  When I say it is “Of The West” I am talking about a spirit, not a specific look.  I feel the same about my photography efforts.  I shoot the West, my interests lay in capturing the West, so my pictures are of the West.

I heard an interview with John Denver once and he spoke of how his music is classified as “country” but he has never felt like a country music musician.  Instead, he called his music “western” because he was singing of the people and the land of the West.  That portion of his interview really resonated with me as I feel most of my work could be seen in the same light.  Also, just so we’re clear, I really adore John Denver, I am listening to him on vinyl as I write this and it’s beautiful.

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I found myself with a clear studio bench this week, for the first time in months (maybe years) and I decided to let myself play, to take hours to sketch and draw and fiddle with shapes and forms and to build a few things off the cuff, to not worry too much about perfection and straight lines, rather to allow myself to color outside of the lines and wing it.  The result is some reimagined settings for motifs I’ve been working with for years.  Rustic statement pieces that hold a splash of the mystic.  This is my love for the high deserts of New Mexico and Idaho rising up out of me and a dash of Catholic iconography mixed in with my simple, hayseed heart.

This is:

+Of The West+