Born in Sydney, Australia, Danielle has lived in Spain, Belgium, and Kuwait with the greater part of her adolescence spent in Greenville, South Carolina where she was introduced to metal as a medium of creative expression at Greenville High School for the Fine Arts.

Education:

After high school I worked for a year in Kuwait, mostly in retail environments, where I was fortunate to be exposed to some very well-clad gorgeous arabic women! It is there that I was able to practice close observation of the already coveted stylings of internationally reknowned jewelry design houses such as Bvlgari, Niessing, Cartier, and legends like Lalique. The local gold souq presented a drastically different experience with Indian and bedouin ethnic stylistic roots. These two very different schools of aesthetics next to one another were the ultimate indulgence for creative origins.

Upon returning to the U.S. I completed a BBA in Marketing at UT in Austin, where I now reside with my family.

My current work is primarily one-of-a-kind wedding and engagement jewelry. I pride myself in bringing my clients’ visions to reality!

I like to work with the metal because it has the right opposing material strength to satisfy the kid in me that still wants to bend and test. I know that my creation bears the emotional and spiritual strength of representing the commitment of two people to one another. The jewelry I design has a very real iconic symbolism for the wearer. And the fact that the pieces are made from the earth’s children, metal and stones, is a very symbolic connection for me as the jeweler. Not only am I reconnecting with the earth each time I hammer a surface or melt the material, I’m given the mandate to reconnect in the name of a higher purpose, the commitment to love.

As the artist and jeweler, I adore the creative process. In the case of making wedding rings there is always a very intensive period at the conception of the piece where I bond with its ultimate purpose. This leads to a phase toward visible realization of the piece where I confront the invariable disparity (whether minute or not) between what I think the client wants and what I think the materials want to do! The last phase of a piece occurs when it is finished, or polished, and I am always awe-struck by what a gift the materials really are. Each time I enter this final step, when the piece begins to take on its own real character, the metal shows the first signs of fresh, final skin, the metal always surpasses my expectations. This, I believe, is one of the great truths of primates working with metal- we love shiny stuff!!!

My jewelry is distinctive because it is personal and specifically created to meet the needs of one or two individuals. Though I always enjoy the freedom of artistic license, I often receive very specific instruction from my clientele. These cases add a challenge that is particularly gratifying to meet. There is great reward in witnessing the countenance of the commissioner when they see that perfect, shining form for the very first time! It is a joy to enable one who is in love to give the ultimate gift!

In my jewelry, I love employing the metal and designing forms for the purpose of engaging the eye by drawing and reflecting light. Something akin to the inverse of architecture I would love to arrive at the point where I can communicate with the metal in a way that the light comes looking for us!

I am now pursuing the evolutionary track of two lines of fine jewelry. In these designs I hope to express some of the finer characteristics found in my wedding rings on larger surfaces meant for symbiosis with other regions of the female sculpture.

My aspirations as a jeweler are to eventually cater to a small royalty! Should I never reach this goal, I will be delighted to continue viewing each of my customers as kings and queens on their own pursuit for a piece de resistance. Would you like to be my next royal?