I am the mother of an autistic child. The process of enameling shares much with my beautiful daughter. It is a combination of strength and fragility, rigorous routines and capricious outcomes, beauty and hard work, great vexation and great reward. I find beauty in the unexpected – things random and unintended can be made understandable and meaningful with the right combination of patience, labor, and love.
Addendum January 2015:
An unexpected lovely nomination for a blog award by a stranger has caused me to revisit this page. Although I post weekly, I last updated “About” in March of 2010. My beautiful daughter died just a few months later, August 9, 2010. Hodgkin’s lymphoma took her too quickly from me, but she shined with a brightness that nothing will ever dim. I still believe that the right combination of patience, labor, and love is the way to live. I continue to strive to adhere to that path, to honor my sweet Jessica.
Scorched Eyebrow Studio 
Would you be interested in doing an expo near Pittsburgh, April 19, 20, and 21?
I am not doing any additional shows this year, but if you would send some details about the expo to my guild, the Yellow Breeches Chapter of the PA Guild of Craftsmen, http://www.ybcrafts.org, there may be other fine craftsmen interested.
Hi just to let you know that I have nominated you for a blog award 🙂
Thank you, Vicky. I am honored.
Just came across your blog. I too enamel, mainly cloisonne. There are not very many of us who paint with fire, at least not here on the shores of Lake Ontario. Please accept my deepest sympathy for the loss of your daughter. That sounds so lame, there are no words for some things. Grief lasts as long as the love lasts – till we see our loved ones again. Also I’m very sorry for the loss of your pet. They are loved too.
Welcome to my blog, Patty. Cloisonné is a technique that I admire and respect. As a committed non-jeweler (my fingers refuse to work that small), I am always delighted to see the beauty some of my fellow enamelists can create in very compact spaces. I am planning to attend the 2017 Enamelist Society convention. Hope you are a member – The Society helps us keep the flame (and glass and metal) bright.
Hi. I’m working on a post about the spectacular jewelry you recommended, and I came here so I could say something intelligent about you. I really love the connection you made between your enameling work and your daughter, and I was so very sorry to read that you lost her. Wishing you peace.
Thank you, Donna.
So sorry about your sweet Jessica. Thank you for letting us know.
She was the best teacher I ever had; what an honor to be her mother.
Hello, it’s Guillaume. Had Facebook issues lately, contact me and I will give you my new alias.
Miss you. ♥️♥️♥️