I grew up on Bainbridge Island with mud under my fingernails and a head full of ideas. I built wood forts, made bird nests from sticks and mud, climbed trees, and galloped my horse across the pasture pretending the redcoats were coming. Art class was always my favorite — ceramics, woodworking, anything that put something real in my hands. My mom was endlessly supportive of all of it. She thought I'd make a great teacher.

It was a beaded necklace that changed everything. I strung it together while working in a retail store — lots of beads on a cord, made for the love of making it — and gave it to my mom for Christmas. That's when she said: Get your business license and become a jewelry designer. She was right, as moms often are. I think about her every time I'm at my bench.

In 1994 I registered my first business — Griffin Works — out of a love for the process and a desire to share what I made with others. Wire and beads gave way to pearls and silver, and somewhere along the way I fell completely in love with metalsmithing. A class at Seattle's Pratt Fine Arts Center in 2000 planted the seed. In 2018 an intro to metalsmithing class with Nicole Ringgold lit the fire for good. I never looked back.

These days my studio sits on a property in the Pacific Northwest where I also tend a flower farm — now in its fifth year. I grow flowers from seed, greet the birds each morning, and find inspiration in everything the seasons bring. The PNW is not just where I live, it's what I make. The organic shapes, the quiet textures, the way light moves through a leaf — all of it finds its way into the silver.

My process starts with the stone. I choose it first and build everything around it — cutting components from sheet sterling silver, sculpting with hand and electric tools, soldering, texturing, adding patina and then brushing it back to reveal the highlights. I stamp my signature into every piece, or solder a tiny tab with a flower petal and my initials in a discreet place. A small thing that matters to me.

95% of the components in my work are handcrafted in my studio from recycled silver. Every piece is one of a kind. I've been doing this for thirty years and I'm still surprised by what the metal wants to become.

I did consider firewalking at one point. The class was full.

🌿 I'm so glad you're here.