My Story
I live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Westboro Village to be exact, and I have always loved pursuing my artistic side. I am retired and love to play with glass, paint, cook, garden, golf and my husband Robert and I love to travel. Our three children are all grown, married and living here in Ottawa. We have three beautiful grandchildren, Hannah, Nathan and Nolan who are our world. It's true when they say "if we had known that grandchildren would be so much fun we would have had them first" and I would be remiss if I didn't also mention the newest member of our family, our granddog Lloyd.
My first experience with glass was during a trip to Murano, Italy. Watching these amazing artisans create pieces in glass and seeing the beautiful jewelry on display that incorporated their work struck a chord with me. Shortly after that trip, in 2012 I started my journey in jewelry design. I've always been known as a bit of a magpie. I love shiny, sparkly things and I love jewelry so it seemed like the perfect fit. Before long I was looking for some way to make my pieces more unique.
While visiting a local bead supply store I happened upon a lampwork studio. After watching a demonstration, I signed up for a series of introductory classes with an incredible teacher and mentor, Grace Edwards. In 2018 I set up my own home studio and this is where my creative fancies with glass take flight.
Designing necklaces, earrings, bracelets and pendants is so gratifying when I have the added dimension of incorporating my own unique lampwork elements into my creations.
I have always dreamed of trying my hand at watercolour but full time work left little time to extra curricular activities, especially when my lampwork was taking up such a huge chunk of my free time. Once retirement came along in 2019, opportunities to pursue painting came along with it. Our dream has always been to spend winters in Portugal and I needed to be able to exercise my creative side while we were on the road. I needed something portable and glass wasn't an option. I enrolled in some classes at the Ottawa School of Art and under the guidance and encouragement of my teachers, Maya Hum and David Clendining, my passion was ignited.
Time in the studio is always so gratifying. I love working on the torch and sitting in front of a blank canvas with paintbrush in hand is my idea of a perfect day.
My first experience with glass was during a trip to Murano, Italy. Watching these amazing artisans create pieces in glass and seeing the beautiful jewelry on display that incorporated their work struck a chord with me. Shortly after that trip, in 2012 I started my journey in jewelry design. I've always been known as a bit of a magpie. I love shiny, sparkly things and I love jewelry so it seemed like the perfect fit. Before long I was looking for some way to make my pieces more unique.
While visiting a local bead supply store I happened upon a lampwork studio. After watching a demonstration, I signed up for a series of introductory classes with an incredible teacher and mentor, Grace Edwards. In 2018 I set up my own home studio and this is where my creative fancies with glass take flight.
Designing necklaces, earrings, bracelets and pendants is so gratifying when I have the added dimension of incorporating my own unique lampwork elements into my creations.
I have always dreamed of trying my hand at watercolour but full time work left little time to extra curricular activities, especially when my lampwork was taking up such a huge chunk of my free time. Once retirement came along in 2019, opportunities to pursue painting came along with it. Our dream has always been to spend winters in Portugal and I needed to be able to exercise my creative side while we were on the road. I needed something portable and glass wasn't an option. I enrolled in some classes at the Ottawa School of Art and under the guidance and encouragement of my teachers, Maya Hum and David Clendining, my passion was ignited.
Time in the studio is always so gratifying. I love working on the torch and sitting in front of a blank canvas with paintbrush in hand is my idea of a perfect day.
Liz
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