My Story

 I'm a believer, a realist, but also a dreamer.  I love art, food, jazz, the beach, the mountains, mid century furniture, ancestry, kind people, & fabricating metal! And I drink Cafe Bustelo daily.

I have been married for 20 yrs and dragged my husband from Miami FL to Indiana back in 2002.  We have two daughters, a Jack Russell (update: we had to put our sweet old girl down this summer), a gold fish and recently a Venus Fly Trap (update - it didn't make it)! But we did gain a new member to the family, a Berne doodle named Finn! I ran our family dealership for a time, worked in the restaurant / bar business in NOLA, the hotel industry in Miami and banking in Charlotte. In all my business professions, I was always missing my creative outlet & kept putting off getting my studio up and running.  I studied fine arts, emphasizing on metals, bio-anthropology, and graduated in 1996 from Indiana University. I have lived in some great places, traveled some of the globe, and studied abroad for a time. 

I find inspiration from just about anything; notably nature & culture. When I get an idea, or see something I have to start in on it immediately.  I find value in creating unique individual pieces, and appreciate how metal transforms. If a piece isn’t going the “intended” way, then I let it take me where it wants to go. My craft continues to evolve, as I like to think I’m getting wiser with age.  I couldn't be more thrilled to share my pieces with you.  My hopes are that you find something I’ve created, and enjoy it as much as I have making it. 

Peace & Grace,

Ali

 

 

Why a "Quarantine" Collection : 2020

I believe there is a silver lining in everything. Sometimes we don't recognize what it is. I'd like to think of them as "God winks".  When the world started shutting down, I fell ill for about 6 weeks.  People rallied everywhere together for our safety, a commonality, if you will.  Trying to navigate through quarantine, e-learning, toilet paper and bread yeast rations, there was a lot of uncertainty. The need to finally just do it was overwhelming.... So after 20 +years I decided I'm going to get back on the saddle! Well not that kind of saddle, but back at the bench. My happy place!   For me 2020 has been undeniably crazy.  But I can say that my silver lining is that, I was inspired to follow my heart and passion, with the help of some amazing support.