About Me
I began my career as a metalsmith in 1995 after having been a USAF officer in the Medical Service Corps, and a hospital administrator in various civilian positions. When we were pregnant with our first child I painted all the walls, I made all the curtains, I made blankets, all the linens and…then, there was nothing left to make. Suddenly the thought popped into my head to make pendants, so I asked my Dad to teach me to solder. He was my first teacher. Since then, I have taken silversmithing classes through the Craft Guild of Dallas and various Guilds and with masters from around the world.
I feel that jewelry should be a daily extension of your mood, and therefore, I like to make pieces to represent how you feel that day. Or how you NEED to feel for the day! I also firmly believe that jewelry should bring awareness to our precious life on Earth. If you put on the jewelry I make, and you are empowered to tackle the day and save the Planet, I’ve done my job.
Artist Statement
With her early childhood in northern California, Diana was always outdoors enjoying both the fresh sea air and the lovely warm scent of the redwoods in the mountains. With face uplifted to catch the breezes and horizon, her curiosity then expanded to the tide pools, dunes, cliffs, redwood bark, fungus, birds and mountain flowers. It was a rewarding loop that still drives her curiosity today. Diana truly hopes that when you see her art, it provokes a memory of your childhood curiosities and joys of the great outdoors. She hopes the profound sense of protection she feels for these elements stirs in you the same feeling, and together we will feel empowered to save the world. Her commitment to the environment is so deep, that she yearly donates a portion of her income to The Ocean Conservancy and The Environmental Defense Fund.
A Glimpse Into My Process
My current body of work is water themed, with the hope that it will bring attention to the need to protect our natural waters. I currently get most of my inspiration from my kayaking trips in North Texas lakes, but I also see the parched Earth, and feel the loss of waters around the World. When I'm out on the water, and feel its sacred touch, I immediately see a design in my head and sketch it in my little waterproof notebook. When I get home, I transfer it into my permanent sketchbook, contemplating the sacredness of my environment.
Land Acknowledgment
I respectfully acknowledge that I live and work in the ancestral, traditional and contemporary homelands of the Delaware, Chickasaw, Waco, Tawakoni, Keechi, Caddo, Anadarko, Ioni, Biloxi and Cherokee. These Nations signed the Peace Circle Treaty of 1844, and I recognize these Native Nations, historic Indigenous communities and Native individuals who live here now. In offering this land acknowledgment, may it serve as a reminder of my ongoing efforts as a pledged Water Protector and a Woman Warrior, to recognize, honor, reconcile and partner with these Nations' people whose lands and water I and my family benefit from today. Let this land acknowledgment also be an opening for all of us to contemplate a way to join in decolonial and indigenous movements for sovereignty and self-determination.