Artist Statement

I take pictures because I feel that the beauty of our world is seldom seen, particularly when it
comes to the little things. I want my work to open people's eyes to the glories that surround us,
whether it be a clump of dandelions emerging from a sidewalk crack, the crisscrossing shadows
of a street sign, a lonely tombstone, or a maple branch adorned with autumn. I shrink my images
and make jewelry and other small creations from them because I've found that little things,
fragments of God's beauty that I can hold and carry with me, are more precious to me than many
of the larger things of life.

The act of creating brings me great peace, and to share my artistic vision with others makes me
happy. I've learned to persist in experimenting with different techniques and mediums, and I've
made some mistakes. My little failures have taught me perseverance and that sometimes it's just
not supposed to work. They've opened up room for new opportunities and more possibilities and
have strengthened my ingenuity and expanded my imagination. When I find a process that works
well, I practice till I get as close to perfect as I can.

I work with photo transfer, decoupage, and resin techniques on bamboo tiles, bone beads, glass
gems, dominoes, and even bottlecaps. This variety of methods and mediums works well with my
urban, nature, and religious photographs. The smallness of my pieces invites people to look
closely and hopefully reveals to them the fleeting beauty and often-missed details of our world.
We all have our own perceptions and perspectives, our own little visions. Photography and
jewelry art are the means through which I share mine.