My  love for jewelry runs deep in my blood as I was born into a family of art aficionados. The love and appreciation for jewelry was fostered by my grandmother, an antique jewelry dealer, who often redesigned vintage jewelry into modern pieces. As told by grandma in conversation "As soon as you showed interest, I wanted to show you all that I knew". She would take me to art fairs when I was very young to show me jewelry designs and to help her purchase new items. My mom nurtured my love of art by enrolling me in a variety of art classes. Beading and jewelry making classes were my favorites. My dad was very creative in the way he would build things from raw materials with me.  I knew from a young age that a career in the arts was my future but wasn't sure in which creative realm that would occur.