Jewelry Artist & Designer
ARTIST BIO
Designing and creating jewelry is certainly not something I ever in my lifetime thought I would be doing! I thought my only talents were the piano and writing. I’m not crafty, and I don’t draw or paint. My careers included television, on camera and as a writer/producer, and taking care of the marketing, package design, public relations, seminars, etc. for the Lawn & Garden manufacturing company that my husband and I owned.
Then eight or nine years ago we sold our business and I founded Sparrow’s Wings, a non-profit organization to help children in need—-here in St. Johns County and in Third World countries, specifically Honduras. I said to my family, “I need to hold a fundraiser. Should I have a car wash or a bake sale?” My daughter immediately responded, “Mom, you don’t like to wash cars and you’re not a very good baker. Think about something else for a fundraiser. Something like Pearls—-you’ve always loved Pearls.” Before I could remind her, “I’m not a jewelry designer,” my granddaughter said, “you must make the Pearls cool if you want my friends to like them.”
How could I refuse a challenge such as that?!?
I bought a few Pearls and a bit of leather, and worked diligently to figure out how to create the simplest jewelry. We held our little fundraiser at Flagler Hospital—-I was very pleased at the positive response! Then I began to be invited to participate in other events in town, and Global Island Treasures was born. In addition to Pearls I often incorporate other stones, gems, natural artifacts, and historic artifacts into my designs.
My jewelry is worn by customers throughout North America, South America, and Europe. My jewelry has also received several local, national, and even international accolades. I have been named St. Augustine’s “best jewelry designer,”have won the “Best In Jax” award, and won the Jewelry Trends International Design Competition. Last year during New York Fashion Week my jewelry was featured on a billboard in Times Square—-a New York fashion designer had requested my jewelry for his photoshoot!
The only thing I can think of by way of explanation for all that has happened is this: God likes what we are doing with Sparrow’s Wings, and wants us to continue!