Growing up in suburban Philadelphia, I was always making something (my parents would add, "Yes, a mess"). As a kid, I stuck a pearl up my nose, got my finger caught in a deadbolt lock that I thought was a gold ring, and tried-on the most garish rings with my Dad on Jeweler's Row, always questioning, "Can't we get this?"

As I grew older, I chose to study architecture at Syracuse University. But I wasn't happy, so I took up industrial design. I moved to New York City and became the design director for a remarkable contemporary company, George Kovacs Lighting. I took metalsmithing classes at night and on weekends, and was always discovering a new jewelry technique or medium.

My jewelry designs come from two very specific places in my life. First, the organic, texture driven pieces reflect my suburban outdoorsy roots, collecting "treasures" from the trees I climbed and wading through the creek with my brothers.

With their strong geometric angles and clean lines, my other designs come from my architecture training, and love of blueprints, grid paper and modern design. There is a subtle sexiness in the pieces as the viewer peeks through to the wearer's exposed skin.