I have always loved beautiful things. In my 20s, I wanted to be an art historian. That was when my love for art and all things Art Deco began. It is also when I started my love affair with collectible glass. There is something special about the craft of blown glass that touches my soul. It represents change--both the geology that created the stone that was then broken down into sand and the transmutation of sand to glass. How can anything be more beautiful than that.
Although I continued to study art history, I ended up being a writer instead. I filled my life and my home with beautiful things until tragedy stuck, and I was forced forced to reinvent myself. This time when I emerged, it was as a writer of fiction and poetry. In fact, my debut fiction collection was finally published in March 2024. I love to write, and I love to teach other writers. Words fill just about every inch of my life, and that's when I knew I needed something that wasn't about writing. I needed a hobby, something that still fulfilled my love of research and finding stories. Searching for treasures became a source of joy for me, and once I felt I had enough to open a shop, I look a leap of faith.
My day job is still writing. I still teach others to write. And I love every minute of it. But these days, I also take a few hours a week to go hunting for beautiful things, objects that were once loved by people who, for whatever reason, could no longer keep them. I love learning about each item I save. Who made it? Where did it come from? What is its history? I feel as though I learn a little about the people who once owned it, and then I work to find each piece a new home, where it will be loved and appreciated. A place where it can become a part of a new story. And what could be more magical than that?