I would say avant garde sculptural art is a very good definition for what I do, and the ultimate result of what I do, that's stunning.

I really wanted to develop something unique. This piece is about this cluster. They've done a lot of shoots now with models in that detailing, and the models have told me that they feel different in my pieces. It brings out some sort of confidence in them. We're thinking the silver is gonna look fantastic with this. They're for women who are not afraid to be the center of attention. It's cool for me to see that as a designer, to see how these pieces can transform women. It's obvious and it's visceral.

This one actually sat on my desk for a week, and I kept spinning on how to finish it, and I had a dream one night. In my dream, I figured it out, and then I tried that same technique when I woke up and it worked. It's always kind of nerve wracking when you spend hours and hours and hours on these incredibly intricate gemstone clusters, not knowing exactly how it's going to ultimately play out, knowing that you're always kind of taking a risk. It's like a chess game. I always have to be kind of three moves ahead at any given time. So I have to make little adjustments while I'm designing in order to manipulate the design to go where I want it to, five moves down. A piece is not finished for me unless I say, man, that is awesome.

The clusters in my signature collection always start with a primary piece that I pull a color palette from, and then I just draw from that color palette and I pull gemstones that have shades or tones of that same color palette.

Shopping for beads is probably one of my favorite things about what I do. It's the genesis of creativity. For me, this is definitely going in the back. I'll probably buy at least 10 different shapes per collection, and then 10 different colors, but all colors based off of the center stone. So I'm looking for anything that's going to complement some of these stones here that I'm going to use as main center stones, complementary in color or texture. I've learned over the years that the more variance of shape that you have, the more interesting your cluster is going to be.

A lot of people will get inspiration from nature or a poem or a song. I get inspiration from nature, but it's in the form of beautiful, glittering gemstones. I think I was a magpie in a former life, because I'm just drawn to things that sparkle and glow. Fireworks in a stone. I actually think that the stones' flaws contribute to their beauty greatly. Mother Nature knows color theory like no one else; it's almost cheating, really. One time I was inspired by this epic sunrise. My entire room was lit up magenta, and I remember going outside and just saying, I need to make a piece out of this color palette.

Art should invoke an opinion. It should be seen. Art should have the chance to create reaction.

So I've been picking pieces that I think will go together, different components that I think will play well together with color, texture, and make for a very interesting piece. When I shop for vintage stuff, I look for stuff that you wouldn't necessarily think would go with something that does. So I'll look for the set of three: the brooch and the matching earrings that have been together forever. So I'll start with a basic color palette, but then I will troll the entire store, because there's always going to be components that you wouldn't expect to go with it that go great with it. I've surprised store owners often, where I'll select something and then I'll just select something completely different out of a different case and put it together, and it works.

The shoot in the Springs was a shoot that I did for Flair magazine, and the only person I would have wanted to do that shoot with is my friend Gino Velardi, who is a very talented clothing designer. This is a perfect kind of in-betweener. This is cocktail hour, you know. Jackie O cocktail hour.

The bead show and shopping for beads is probably one of my favorite things about what I do, it's the genesis of creativity for me. I actually think that the stones' flaws contribute to their beauty greatly. I like to have components to work with, and sets of three generally play really well in design philosophy.

That's really what drew me to these pieces, is that you can have a really nice flow. Same with this piece. Look at that. There's great direction in this. We have direction down and up, and these kind of pieces lend for a lot of versatility as you join them with other components. And always, a piece is more successful if it has a continuous flow, like a river.

I'm not drawn to pieces like this. Although I have in the past picked up a few, maybe not circular pieces, but symmetrical pieces, and done a few symmetrical necklaces. Really, I love the kind of asymmetrical aspect of design, and so that's typically what I'm more drawn to.

The vintage line began for me when I had a lot of commission pieces come my way, where people wanted me to incorporate an old piece of jewelry that was significant to them in their jewelry box. A lot of these pieces, people had a lot of nostalgia wrapped up in them, but they weren't modern, or they were broken, or they just weren't wearable.

My esthetic is something that I developed over the years as a young designer. It was my main focus to kind of define for my line: what is it going to be that is going to be recognizable as my brand later on, as I become more developed? I just wanted to make jewelry that I wanted to wear.