Rings with For The Birds

Once upon a time I had a glass jewelry company with Julie Comfort called Opal-Black from 2004-2011. Using glass paints and fused glass, we created one-of-a-kind glass pendants that we sold throughout the Bay Area & Austin, TX. Over the years, as I transitioned away from glass and more towards drawing and painting, I continued to carry several of these glass pendents while moving from state to state. Sometimes I don’t know if I keep them because I’m not ready to end my relationship with the medium of glass or because I want it as a reminder that glass was a significant part of my art journey. Either way, they reflect so much of what I was trying to achieve with layered glass-which still resonnates with how I tackle the painting process today.

Recently, I had the pleasure of sharing space with Jules DeBlasio, who is not only a bad-ass human but she’s a bad-ass jeweler too.  Jules is the creator behind For The Birds jewelry and her latest works have been exploring the amazing process of electroforming copper. Our creative sessions together led me to resurrect some of my Opal-Black pendants from the depths of my studio-which I hadn’t done in years. Jules worked her magic on these pendants & I’m so grateful because I was able to see these them through fresh eyes. To her, these pendants were rings that needed to be nestled in copper. And I am pretty sure those little glass pieces were quite happy to be resurrected & given an updated home. Thank you Jules for a fun and refreshing collab and may they bless the fingers they landed on :)