About the Art

For as long I can remember I have been a 'busy work' type of person.  As a small child I can remember having difficulty sitting, doing nothing.  Very early on I learned to crochet, and that kept my hands busy while the Tv was on for many years.  I got my first sewing machine when I was 20, and my very first project was to make a slip cover for my sectional without a pattern or instructions.   I always knew I was meant to make things, but I couldn't draw to save my life, and I cant carry a tune in a bucket, so I work 'with my hands' in a way that isnt always expected of a woman.  

What I work with
Wood - furniture making, refinishing, refurbishing, upholstering, literally taking apart an old thing and making it something else.  I have an old highboy dresser that I turned into an entry way bench with drawers for outerwear, I turned a sofa into 2 chairs, I downsized a king sized mattress to a queen.  I can do almost anything as long as I can see it in my head first.

Metal- wire of all types and  sizes, steel strapping, assorted hardware.  I buy a lot of my materials brand new, but I do my best to use reclaimed materials when possible.  I have friends who work in construction jobs and can often collect things like steel strapping, waste lumber, copper, and such.

Fabrics - depending on the project I will buy fabric with a purpose in mind, but more often than not I'm able to find great fabrics in large quantities and end up with tons of left over for future projects.  I have enough of a stash at this point that i  rarely need to buy very much for my own purposes.  Some of my most ordinary looking garments are the most fun to make.  I have a wide variety of everyday clothing items that are lined with kevlar.  I have puncture proof lingerie items, Leather jackets, tall boots, and more than a few over and under bust corsets that are stab proof and bullet 'resistant'  I've made several suit jackets for both men and women that are 'protective' while maintaining a 'regular garment' appearance.  This custom tailoring skill was born out of my work in Security and private investigations, and it caught on with some of my colleagues.  Now its a pretty common request, they bring the garment, I alter it to suit, or I can make the whole thing from a photo of their 'dream garment'

Jump Rings - I make rather a lot of chainmaille.  I work with stainless steel most often, but i also use copper, Aluminum, Silver an Gold.  More often than not i make my rings myself and cut each one individually.  so a large project can sometimes take weeks. Larger chainmaille garments like the bolero in my gallery, or whole shirts for historical costuming are most often made of a mix of Aluminum and Stainless simply in an effort to keep the weight down, stainless is heaps heavier than aluminum.  

How I get it Done:

I almost always work exclusively on one project until its finished before moving on to the next thing, but that doesn't always work out depending on what comes up outside of my own art.  during certain festival seasons I can be busier than others, so my own personal art gets put aside for a bit.

My Work Environment is always super chaotic because I dont have a traditional 'shop'.  I work from my home which is never big enough for all my tools and supplies.  I have 3 rolling tool chests (one for sewing equipment, one for metal tools and supplies, and one for the more typical home repair basic tools)  In addition to the tool boxes I have 18 massive totes of other tools and supplies like heavy duty power tools, saws, plumbing, Hvac, thousands of spools of threads, leather care items, I have a tote of 'tool maintenance' products.  Then theres the 'Parts Organizers'  I have 4 drawer style parts organizers that hold random hardware items, batteries, jump rings, gems, beads, specialty rings and stainless blanks for engraving and such.