I grew up in a small coastal town in New Jersey, where hours spent beachcombing and collecting objects washed ashore shaped my early connection to the natural world. A short walk from home brought sand underfoot and salt air to my lungs, immersing me in shoreline rhythms that continually flow through my work.
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During that time, my family owned a small business on the local boardwalk. Visits often led me next door to a rock and shell shop, where I spent hours studying fossils and stones, learning their names and imagining their origins. I bought my first fossil there with my allowance, an object that sparked a lasting fascination with natural history and the way materials transform over time.
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Years later, that curiosity carried me inland. Walking through the Pine Barrens, I began finding remnants of 18th- and 19th-century iron ore smelting in the form of slag glass scattered through the woods. Formed by heat and industry, these fragments sat quietly among sand and pine needles, remnants of another era folded into the forest.
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Collecting at the shoreline, studying stones and fossils, and discovering slag glass in the forest shaped how I approach materials—first with curiosity, then with intention. Those habits of observation remain central to my studio practice, where each piece begins with careful attention to the physical character and history of each material I choose.