Fine Silver Metal Clay: Making Rings and Setting Stones

While teaching has been Virginia's foremost focus for decades, she also finds creating and exhibiting her work locally, nationally, and internationally have been key aspects to her life. Her work starts with detailed record-keeping in sketchbooks on how she views the natural world. Vague sketches develop into line drawings with hints of color. She then continues to draw and write technical and mechanical outlines on how to create the pieces step by step. She began this detailed process when she lost the ability to create three-dimensional rotating and colored images in her mind, which she had believed would be a constant throughout life. "Surprise! I can't quite accomplish it any longer so my pencil became my new best friend," Virginia said. She enjoys pushing herself to an artistic edge to create new and exciting work to be shared with students. Most of her work evolves through a process of trial and error and involves many fabricating skills. She is foremost a teacher, silversmith, and fabricating jeweler who uses non-ferrous metals and stones and who is committed to passing her skills and abilities on to her students.