I have always loved the process of making things. It begins with the flicker of a partial shape in my imagination. Excitement over a new idea lures me in, convincing me to build it before I have a chance to consider the practicalities, such as build cost, required skills, and physics. These considerations come later. What are the right materials? What technical skills are required? What do I need to learn? Do I need to change the design so that I can actually make it? During construction, satisfaction comes from solving mistakes and unforeseen problems. Upon completion, I judge how close I came to the imagined beginnings and learn to accept the inevitable flaws.

I grew up in a world filled with such making. My father, an aerospace engineer, was a tinkerer in his spare time, making electrical components out of tubes and hand-made circuit boards, building wooden cabinets and furniture, and fixing electrical and plumbing problems. My mother, an elementary school teacher, remained in constant motion, serving as set designer, seamstress, florist, and decorator for our home and various schools and charities. From them, I learned about the creative process, picked up a wide variety of skills, and was exposed to a you-can-figure-anything-out-with-research attitude. 

Instead of picking a career in art, design, or engineering, I went to law school and ended up practicing law for 13 years. I went from being miserable as a first-year associate in an insurance defense firm to being successful, but only slightly less miserable, as a partner in a plaintiffs’ nationwide class action law firm. While practicing law, my daydreams were occupied with design projects. In my mind, I created designs, chose materials, and planned trips to lumberyards and hardware stores. I “made” when I could.

After taking time off lawyering to raise a child, I decided to pursue my true passion and make art. I enrolled in a second-degree program at the San Francisco Art Institute and earned a BFA in sculpture. I have now learned an even wider variety of skills, from welding to woodworking, jewelry-making to casting. Currently, I work out of a warehouse in San Francisco’s SOMA district that I call Seventh Street Studios.