Q: Are you self-taught?
I have taken lampwork classes with just a few teachers but being rather isolated in Alaska much of my learning was on my own.
I got some tips on torch fired enameling from Barbara Lewis s book Painting with Fire but the combinations and effects I have created with my Numi-stick matchsticks and now my torch fired vintage tin charms tintinnabulations are my own developments. I enjoy coming up with distinctive names form my components, I have fun with it.
Q: What inspires you in your work?
I’m inspired by other artists’ work and also the raw wildness around me in both Alaska and Arizona. I’m fascinated by decay and distressed textures and where nature meets the rubble and the rust and I suppose you can see that reflected in my jewelry and components.
Q: I understand you have two studios, one in Arizona and one in Alaska, which is quite a distance away from each other. Can I ask why you have two studio’s and when do you spend at which studio?
I have lived in Alaska for over 35 years and there comes a time for many of us that has spent so many winters that a person can’t help but have a yearning for a milder climate. My husband and I combine our favorite seasons of both Alaska and Arizona with our snow birding lifestyle. We spend over 6 months in Alaska, which is spring/summer/fall with a touch of winter added before we head south to our Southern Arizona home. I can see mountains from both of my studios, The Granite Mountains in Alaska and the San Pedro Mountains in Mexico as we live so close to the border just 8 miles away (about 14 k).
Q: Your facebook business page is called Numinosity. According to the free dictionary numinous means: 1. denoting, being, or relating to a numen; divine 2. arousing spiritual or religious emotions 3. mysterious or awe-inspiring
Could you tell us a bit more why you choose that name?
I chose the name Numinosity shortly after I began making jewelry and beads. Originally I had named the business Bingabeads after a name my little sister used to call me. Once my organic style began to emerge the whimsical name didn’t seem to fit anymore. I had run into my Jungian dream analysis teacher and suddenly the name numinosity popped into my head. The word numinous as you have defined here is used frequently in Jungian dream analysis.