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About the Artist
I was born and raised in a South Chicago suburb, Evergreen Park. I worked in downtown Chicago all of my adult life, most of it as a Legal Secretary. In November of 2000 I met my husband, Craig Finnegan. Craig lived 4 hours away near St. Louis, Missouri. After getting to know one another, we began commuting back and forth on weekends. In June of 2002, I moved downstate to be with Craig. Craig and his family helped to make it a very easy and sane transition moving from Chicago to small town life. I found a job as a Legal Secretary within a week of moving here and lived a largely unartistic life until a few years later.
A former boss was moving away and as a going away gift, she gave me a beaded necklace which I loved. The more I wore and studied it the more I realized - I could make that! I started making beaded necklaces and bracelets and then learned wire bending.
Through my love of beading, I discovered ancient art of lampworking. I was introduced to lampwork beads through the Forum on www.beadandbutton.com -- a bead art community. I happened upon a post featuring the amazing lampwork beads of Corina Tettinger. I was amazed by the minute detail, shapes, textures and colors and the way Corina blended her beads with crystal and Bali sterling silver into stunning bracelets. Through my thorough and insatiable quest of this often breathtaking art, I have become friends with some immensely talented local St. Louis Lampwork artists. I've linked some of them on my Links page.
My husband and I went to the St. Louis Lampworkers' Society's Annual Glass Galore bead show show and he surprised me by buying me a lampworkers' starter kit. We made our first lampwork beads the next day in our basement. I took Lampworking I and Fusing I glass classes at Glasshopper Studio. I no longer am lampworking due to a severe reaction to the flame, but am still fusing glass in my studio my husband built into our garage.
I continue to grow as an artist and learn new jewelry techniques such as chain maile and wire sculpture. |
