Hope is a funny thing.
The simple widening of the perspective to include optimism and to incorporate positive outcomes is enough to stir a sense of hope. And with that small shift, the world is altered and all things are possible.
I first started making jewelry because I liked the feeling of power in being able to transform disparate fragments of nothing really into something. The ability to create pieces that made women feel seen was a gift. Fast forward almost 30 years. Much has changed, while alot has not… While I still get a thrill out of transforming a sheet of metal and a handful of gemstones into wearable pieces of art that are brought to life by the wearer’s inherent beauty, the process sometimes feels frivolous with all that is happening in our world.
The desire to affect meaningful change, even in the smallest of ways, is what inspired me to create the I VOTE cuffs, the HOPE rings and the newly released Black Lives Matter bracelet. It is my intention that these statement pieces are not just that, but instead are conversation pieces in the truest definition: pieces that welcome and foster conversation. I believe that conversations can only occur when both people involved in them actually recognize or “see” one another’s humanity. Big, vibrant butterflies with angled wings that encircle fingers and wrists jumpstart that engagement.
Long recognized as a symbol of metamorphosis, butterflies intrigue me, not for the arduous transformation they undergo, but instead for being the glorious creatures they defiantly are. That, to me, is the ultimate symbol of hope: Fiercely believing in the existence of our wings before they are visible to anyone else.
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