When my youngest started high school she played tennis at a special place, Austin Tennis Academy. Austin Tennis Academy (ATA) has pledged to raise one million dollars for A Glimmer of Hope  in 20 years. Through my involvement with ATA  I learned about A Glimmer of Hope. What I like about Glimmer is 100% of your donation is used to help fund projects in Ethiopia. It was heart breaking to see such poverty and impossible not to be affected by it. I was especially touched by the difficult chore of women and children carrying water for miles everyday. The water they traveled so far to collect was also dirty water, causing disease. A Glimmer of Hope has funded the building of over 3,500 wells to date! Having clean water that is close has changed the dynamics of their daily life. Women can now spend their time growing gardens to feed their families and their children now attend schools built by Glimmer.

My dream is to fund a well in honor of all the women in my family. We’ve funded the first of what I hope are many wells to come. I hope you’ll join me.

Read about Glimmer of Hope in the Austin-American Statesman.

One of the other things I do w/ older jewelry pieces is update and re-create them. I recently took an old charm bracelet and made 3 necklaces for a client. Each charm had special meaning for the recipient.

I feel very hopeful that 2010 will be a great year. My artistic juices are flowing and I’m working on a new project I hope to share in the future.

My earliest gift was a camera. I shot rolls and rolls of B & W film. A favorite subject was the outdoors. Since I was a child I always loved the outdoors. My family took long trips every summer mostly to the mountains. We had a pop-up camper and spent lots of time in the wilderness and National Parks. It was wonderful to spend time in the quiet, surrounded by nature. I learned to observe and became inquisitive. Nature influenced how I look at life. I’ve grown gardens that fed my family. I enjoy working outdoors and caring for my plants. I have always loved the outdoors. I am a Country Lady.

I’ve lived an unusual life. Setting out after college to live on the land I bought a raw piece of land and moved on it. There was no electricity, no running water, and no house. It took months to get the power out to the land. It was also the coldest winter on record. I decided hot water is the best modern convenience. I cooked meals on the daily built fire pit. Everything was smoked or covered in foil and steamed. I lived in a tent for over a year. Nothing helps you see details like living outside. My roots are in the earth.

I love cooking and have spent time in several restaurant kitchens. It was in 1974 working at Shenanigans’ (next to Pelican’s Wharf) that I had a 15 minute stained glass demonstration from a co-worker. I had discovered stain glass on a ski trip to Aspen earlier that year. I was seduced. This started my love affair with stained glass. I read everything I could about stained glass and the glass movement. I started experimenting with etching, laminating, kiln working, and beveling. I designed a line of kiln fired jewelry.