You can find these one-of-a-kind necklaces for sale here.

These are all one-of-a-kind rings. They are for sale here.

I once bought a large, antique frame in a flea market. It was going to hang in my store with a mirror in it, but it never quite fit, so the frame sat empty above our living room bookshelf. One day, fed up with it getting in our way, I decided to hang the frame on the wall. My partner said, why don't you use the wall as a canvas and paint something? Like what? I asked. Anything you like, he answered. I thought, why not? 

I had painted many years ago, but all the painters I knew were intelectual or academic and had great concepts behind their work, and I never saw myself as that kind of person. What I wanted to paint felt more decorative than interesting. So I gave up and started working with clay and then metal. My approach to both mediums was intuitive and physical, which was more in my nature. 

This time however, the freedom I felt knowing this was just an empty space on our wall that I could fill anyway I wanted, made me enjoy the process. That was a few weeks ago, and since then all I have wanted to do is paint.

Here are my first attempts. They are simple graphic compositions, very much influenced by the paintings on mud houses made by the women in Burkina Faso, West Africa, and by the work of Joaquin Torres García, an Uruguayan painter whose work stole my heart when I visited his retrospective during my early twenties.

Showing these paintings feels intimidating. I agree with a friend who said it takes courage to be a beginner. It is uncomfortable to not know where I'm going, or if these pieces will ever evolve to become my own, but I have to start somewhere, so accompany me as I take my first steps.

This used to be a pinboard in my studio. If the urge continues, I'll soon be painting our doors.

I've been drawing these shapes for years, but I never knew what they were for. They didn't quite work as jewelry. They seem to have been waiting in notebooks to become part of these paintings. 

I have always been deeply moved by Richard Serra's monumental steel sculptures. Inspired by his work, in 2009 I began a series of wrapped rings with forged sterling silver wire. For the last five years, I have continued to explore variations on this theme. Here are some of the most interesting pieces, some have chiseled texture, others have soldered elements. To me, they seem like dynamic, three dimensional drawings.

All of the previous rings have sold, but this last one is available here.

In 1997, I studied ceramics at MOA, a Japanese school in Toluca, Mexico. In 2003, I completed my studies at Marlboro College in Vermont, where I majored in ceramics and printmaking. For about thirteen years I worked with clay, building large, hollow, coil formed sculptures. 

After college, I moved to Pátzcuaro, Michoacán –a small town three hours north of Mexico City– and built my first ceramic kiln. During the year I was there, I made a series of sculptures that felt very personal. I was inspired by the ceramics of Ancient West Mexico; the work of my favorite ceramist, Hans Coper; and Martin Puryear's majestic sculptures. I used stoneware clay, and covered the surface with metal oxides. The sculptures are approximately 27 inches tall.