Thoughtful.    Eclectic.   Handmade.

My professional life was in healthcare, not the arts, and learning to create consistently was still new territory for me. The more I made, the more I discovered new materials, techniques, and ideas that excited me. Before long, I realized I had unintentionally placed myself inside a creative box. While I still loved the bohemian style, it no longer represented everything I wanted to explore.

As I moved into a new season of life and began spending more time creating, I knew I needed a name that allowed room for growth—a name that could hold whatever direction inspiration might take next.

I found that inspiration close to home.

For most of my life, Carlinville, Illinois has been home. I often describe it as a patchwork quilt stitched together with generosity, history, and community spirit. It is a place I am proud of and a place that continues to ground me.

Carlinville also holds a unique distinction: it was the first community in Illinois to be recognized as a Bee City USA affiliate. The more I thought about it, the more the image of the bee resonated with me. Bees are purposeful and hardworking, yet they move freely from flower to flower, gathering inspiration wherever it can be found. That felt remarkably familiar.

Bee City Studio became a way to honor both my hometown and my creative journey.

Unlike the names that came before it, Bee City Studio doesn't describe a particular style. Instead, it represents a way of creating—thoughtfully, curiously, and with the freedom to follow inspiration wherever it leads.

In 2023, Bee City Studio officially became the home for all of my creative endeavors. What began as jewelry has expanded into other handmade work, and I suspect there are still new directions waiting to be explored.

You'll also find a section of this website called The Heart of the Hive.  Within its pages, it's where I share not only what I create, but how I create it—the ideas, experiments, successes, and occasional failures that happen along the way.

After all, it's in the heart of the hive that the sweetest things are made.🐝

Why Choose Work by a Maker?

🐝  Each piece begins as an idea and takes shape using artisan techniques and playful assemblage  with components of natural elements, beads and baubles and found treasures.  In a world filled with things made by the thousands, there is something special about owning a piece created by human hands. Handmade work reflects individual choices, creative risks, and thoughtful craftsmanship—qualities that can never be fully replicated on an assembly line. 

🐝 No two creations are ever quite the same. Variations in materials used and hand finishing techniques combine to create unique pieces, even when created in small batches.  Those subtle differences are part of what gives handmade work its character and charm. 

🐝  Each handcrafted piece you welcome home carries the hint of a dream and the spirit of a maker. While some makers don't make a living from what they do, your support helps them further their creative pursuit.  It is often that encouragement that gives a maker the confidence to keep creating, experimenting, and growing ~ and that's very true for me.

Every maker knows that creating is not always about inspiration. Sometimes it is about overcoming the thoughts that try to stop us before we begin.

Will anyone like this? Is it good enough? Does it fit my style? What if the vision in my head doesn't match the materials on my worktable? What if I spend hours on an idea that simply doesn't work?

The truth is that creativity is rarely a straight path. Techniques fail. Materials behave unexpectedly. Colors clash. Ideas that seemed brilliant in the imagination sometimes fall flat in reality. Yet every finished piece represents a decision to continue anyway—to adjust, experiment, learn, and try again.

I've discovered that some of my favorite work began as uncertainty. A different color combination. A new material. An idea that felt risky. More often than not, the only way through creative doubt is to create despite it.

The worktable has taught me that perfection isn't the goal. creating something is.  And when creativity is allowed to lead, fear, self-doubt, and the need to have all the answers tend to become far less stifling. 🐝