I am Basque-American, born and raised in Sun Valley, Idaho. 

My father worked as a cook in the galley of Spanish trans-Atlantic freighters in the 1940s. By the 1950s he had found his way to the Wood River Valley and was working as a sheepherder, looking for a place to call home. He went back to Europe, married my mother, and brought her to a place that reminded them of their homeland in the Basque Country of the Pyrenees Mountains in Spain. My father soon transitioned into a more permanent position as a cook in the kitchen of the Sun Valley Lodge. 

Basque people are well known for being highly adept and skilled with their hands. They have a rich history of working the sea and the land that dates back well over a thousand years if not several millennia.

Working with my hands is in my DNA. It is who I am. 

At a young age jewelry caught my eye. I developed an interest in bringing together the elements of nature into something that can be celebrated. I spent several decades cutting my teeth working under the tutelage of high-end retail jewelers. As a professional jeweler, I work in metal and minerals to create raw expressions of life. Hence my jewelry is bold...to be worn, to be lived in...heartfully..."Bejotza!"