Glass Mosaic

After decades of cake decorating, I discovered a new creative passion in mosaics. I work with a rich collection of glass smalti and tiles, natural stone, and stained glass. I'm still early in this journey, more focused on the joy of making than any particular style or niche. I’m drawn to color, texture, and natural elements — the rest is still unfolding, and honestly, that's the best part.

I named this piece Crustose after the lichen that inspired it.

I make my own malmischiato using a blow torch, pulling and mixing colors that are entirely my own. It's hands-on, a little unpredictable, and no two pulls are the same. The colors I end up with always surprise me, and I love finding a place for them in my work.

Malmischiato is the technique of intentional, beautiful chaos… torch-blending different smalti colors together and pulling them into filati threads. It results in tesserae that are richer, sharper, and more complex than anything you could achieve with a single color.

“Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.”

— Claude Monet

My Studio

My studio has two spaces — indoors where I play with materials, dry fit pieces, and work out the details of a project, and a garage where I fire up the torch, open the bay door, and pull threads. My Uplift desk adjusts from sitting to standing, which makes a difference when I'm deep in a piece for hours. Each space has its own energy, and I love moving between them.
Smalti Love

Color is everything to me, and nothing delivers it quite like smalti. I work with both Mexican and Italian smalti, but Italian is my favorite. It's less temperamental at the torch, and it carries the history and tradition of Murano glass, largely unchanged for centuries. Di Mosaico is my favorite smalti supplier and getting a shipment at my door feels like Christmas.
Perfectly Imperfect

Pulling threads is where I lose track of time completely. The torch drowns everything out and my mind wanders — it's one of the few places where I'm completely present without trying to be. Torch work is a little unpredictable by nature, and every pull is different. I never quite know what I'm going to get, and cutting into them never gets old.