All art tells a story. Some stories are political, some stories are historical, some art tells new stories. My art (jewelry) tells my story– it’s my autobiography. What does that mean? I use semiprecious stones, shell fragments and sea glass to tell stories about me and about my family history. Because I have many memories of being around water, those elements find their way into my jewelry. My mother’s family was from southern Sampson County, NC (shout out to Ivanhoe!), and trips to White Lake and Wrightsville Beach were regular summer occurrences. I have collected shells for as long as I can remember and have had shell collections since I was a child. I still pick up shells — whole or pieces– because of their beauty. The colors, the spiraling shapes, the edges all remind me of summers on North Carolina beaches.