ABOUT THE ARTIST

“Our wounds are often the openings into the best and most beautiful part of us.”

~ David Richo

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Welcome to my site and thank you for visiting RootsandSprouts Designs!  I am the sole owner and artist here at RootsandSprouts.  I am a married mother of two, along with a sweet collie, two sibling cats and 2 silly geckos.  I have always had a love for art, health and healing, and my jewelry making was really birthed out of a need for another creative, healing outlet.  Here's a bit about my background and the merging of my health studies and healing with art.....

  I earned my BS in Kinesiology and Pre-Physical Therapy from the Univeristy of MN.  I took a long travel trip abroad after graduating to hike, rock climb, and do photography in NZ, Australia and SE Asia, and looked into healing/fasting clinics in Asia while getting my certification in Thai Massage from The Old Medicine Hospital in Chiang Mai.  Upon my return, I was accepted into two graduate programs in Seattle and spent time at both the Seattle Institute of Oriental Medicine studying Chinese Herbs and Acupuncture, and Bastyr Univeristy where I was accepted into the Naturopathic Medicine Doctorate program.  I studied clinical nutrition and applied science, and spent a few too many hours breathing formaldehyde in the dissection lab studying live anatomy with our honorary female medical donor.  I decided to leave the program, and to heal.  I took some courses at Bellevue University in layout design and interior design while working at a small clothing start-up and running the sewing production operations, cutter, QC, shipping, embroidery and inventory depts. Incidentally, it was here that I gained the knowledge that would help me start a business down the road.  Soon after, my partner and I relocated to Ashland and I  found myself finishing my Massage Therapy License studying healing through touch, where I practiced for a time before having our babies.

Art has been a sojourn traveler through all of these transitions, and as I studied healing in each of these arenas, art accompanied and brought a level of its own.  It has worn many faces: writing poetry through my parent's divorce, writing piano music, experimenting with cooking Thai and other cuisine after our return from overseas, journaling, photography, painting, remodeling and redesigning homes, gardening, landscaping and now, making art and jewelry.  

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Art, and the simple act of creating, is a beautiful avenue for healing.  Art therapy is using ones own creativity and self expression as a mode to improve and restore health.  So this jewelry is giving life to me, and merging my love of health, healing and art.   I hammer, torch copper, play with shapes and colors, experiment with patinas and bring new things to life.  It's like having a baby without having another baby!  It really does bring a quiet that cannot be found elsewhere.   I hope that you find healing here too, and that my pieces bring joy and light and beauty to you as much as it does for me.  Thank you for visiting my page and I hope you enjoy RootsandSprouts Designs!