Huffalo was born in 2006 in the midst of a daydream on a walk back home from class. Some time before, our metalsmithing class had been given a 20 minute demo on enameling by our professor and that was that. Some time after, our metalsmithing club decided to hold a jewelry sale as a fundraiser--I remembered how quick and painless enameling had seemed compared to the long processes I had been favoring (casting, electroforming, raising, fabricating), made a few dozen pairs of earrings, and was pleasantly surprised that people liked them and even wanted to buy them. It was like magic then and it still is--any time I get an order from some far-flung place across the globe, any time I watch the firing process as pieces change from dust to glass, any time I get to teach and share with a new group of students as I watch their faces as they marvel at the process.

It's been thirteen years of enameling and the magic never ceases. Enameling was one of the first jewelry techniques created by artisans as they sought to replicate the look of inlaid stones. The earliest enamels, made of silica and raw minerals, replicated the colors of gemstones--lapis, turquoise, garnet, onyx. I may not have to build a fire or mine my own minerals for enamels, but the process is essentially the same as it was all those thousands of years ago. Enamel has seen many surges of popularity--I've long been an admirer of vintage treasures, and I like that my work has a timeless aspect to it--a connection to the past, but also the heirloom quality and craftsmanship that will allow it to be worn and loved and cherished for generations.

And why jewelry, you ask? I joke that metal is in my blood literally--I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, a great former/current steel towns, and my parents both work in the aluminum industry, but it's more than just that. Both of my grandmothers passed away in the last few years and the act of consolidating and sorting has been both draining and illuminating. It's made me consider how we choose to live, what we save, what we communicate (both with and without words). Jewelry is a way to speak to the people around you without speaking, it's art you carry with you, that you interact with every day when you wear it. I love that in a tiny, tiny way, something that I've made can bring joy or happiness to someone else's day.

Many of my pieces are inspired from the joys and observations of real life. I think of my process as one of distillation--remembering the palette of a picnic, or a flower garden, or a shelf of book spines, or a sunset over the city, and condensing it down to a handful of colors. My pieces are inspired by my travels and happenings and I hope that they'll be accessories to your next adventures.