About Nya

My interested in the alchemical art of transforming raw materials into wearable works of art started early in college. I am deeply intellectual by nature, but I found that I needed art to calm my mind. When immersed in art, time dissipates, self-consciousness fades, and I am deeply engaged, present, and, importantly, free of anxiety. "Flow state" = that sweet spot where a task is challenging enough to keep me hooked, yet not so daunting that I get in my head.

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My neurodivergence has led me to try just about every art form. Stained glass, pottery, iron forging, paper making, linocut, costume design, and botanical printing – to name a few stand outs. As I write this I am taking a mixed media painting class creating three dimensional nature paintings by painting over kelp and ferns and such.

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But there is something about making jewelry has stuck with me more than any other medium. I get to craft art pieces that we carry around with us – on our bodies! I get to make all the fanciful or zany things I want to wear that no one around me is making.

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In 2013, when I learned lost wax casting, my creative outlet took a transformative turn. Being able to cast my creations empowered me to share my designs with the world -and to pursue something I feel very called to do – to work on behalf of our planet.

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After working for a few wonderful environmental organizations, I wanted to establish an environmental NGO that would help my colleagues succeed at the human dimension of the environmental – after all, at this point, we are really dealing with a human problem. To spread this emerging science among my peers as fast as possible – because, well, it is rather urgent – I reinvested what would have been my salary, embracing a grad-student lifestyle all over again!

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Who knew it would be creating art pieces that will live beyond me that would allow me to eke out the living I needed to do something for the world that I hope will live beyond me.

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Fast forward a decade and I have co-authored the very book I started the NGO to write – and it is already having far reaching impact on our environmental work. And my jewelry has found homes in some amazing boutiques scattered along California's northern coast and beyond.

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It won’t surprise you dear reader (wow, you have read so far!) to know that a lot of my pieces are nature based. Or that, because of my neurodivergence, I also need to constantly work on new skills and ideas. This year I am super interested in Art Deco (especially if it overlaps with nature, but it doesn’t have to). Just today, writing this I thought, “oooh, it would be great to make a line honoring neurodiversity”. Next project!