When I was nineteen, I left my home in Moscow to study piano at the Conservatory of Music in the very old, historic Russian city of Nizhniy Novgorod.  I spent six years training as a pianist, playing many concerts, making wonderful friends and learning about music and life. In the 1990’s, Russia was an extremely poor nation.  As students, we often had little or no money, but even with money, there was little or nothing to buy.  To dress well was virtually impossible.  It did not take me long to realize that if I wanted to look stylish, I would have to make my own clothing and accessories.  There were no bead shops, no books on making jewelry, and no tools.  But as they say, necessity is the mother of invention.

The dormitory was wired for phone service, but as was often the case in Russia, the project ran out of funds and phones were never connected.  Years went by, and the telephone system was all but forgotten.  However, I found my first inspiration from the wonderful pink phone cable that was left behind.  I took apart a colorful sweater made of silk threads and wrapped them around a piece of phone wire to create a base for my first necklace.   I collected a fair amount of old, unwanted leather gloves and bags in different colors from my fellow students and cut out little pieces shaped into feet and hands and attached them to the wire base. I proudly strolled around town sporting my new necklace.  Within several days, much to my surprise, I received my first order. Soon, artists, musicians, actors and people who were not afraid to stand out from the grayness of the local conservative dress, wanted to have my jewelry. My friends could not wait for birthdays and holidays to receive my creations as gifts. For the next several years, I   spent hours in my room after concerts working on my jewelry, sometimes surviving on only three or four hours of sleep.

As my music career began to take shape, I no longer had time to devote to my jewelry art.  Though I did not make any pieces for fifteen years, I always knew that I would someday return to it.  I could not forget the feeling of happiness I experienced while making jewelry.  Never did I dream that my life would take the wildest turn, that one day I would move to the United States, where my music and jewelry careers could take new root.  The abundance of  materials, tools and resources I now have enable me to explore my creativity and skill without limits.