About the Collections
Upbeat Instrumental Style
Jewelry, gifts, and objects of delight
Express your personal connection to music with jewelry, accessories, and décor for the home and office. I make all pieces using reclaimed and repurposed musical instrument parts. Whether a design is one-of-a-kind, limited edition, or a production piece, each Upbeat product is unique.
Upbeat Kaleidoscopes
Upbeat Kaleidoscopes give you a colorful spin on music and the world around you. The bodies of the scopes, as well as many of the objects in the chamber that refract into mandala patterns, are made of parts of musical instruments, vinyl records, sheet music, guitar picks, and more.
Kaleidoscopes and teleidoscopes fall right at the overlapping center of the Venn diagram of things that fascinate and inspire me: Art, Music, Science, Rhythm, Spirit, Play, Magic, Joy.
Cymbals of Strength
Show your strength! My new jewelry collection is designed to express courage & inner power with symbols of strength from world cultures, made from reclaimed broken drum cymbals.
I donate 3% of each Cymbals of Strength sale to A Window Between Worlds. They help survivors of trauma discover and explore their own strength through art.
Upbeat Watches and Clocks
Limited edition and limited production timepieces
The first design in the Upbeat Watches collection is set to launch in the Fall of 2021. The watches will be limited to a numbered edition of 50. Join my mailing list for the opportunity to order as soon as they are released!
When constructing my limited production wall clocks with elegant compositions of elements such as piano parts, drumsticks, and guitar strings and picks, I am inspired by labyrinths and mandalas and the journey of reflection and self-knowledge.
The distinctive characteristics of found objects, recycled materials and hand-crafted design make each piece unlike any other.
Second Chance Pianos
A creative experiment in revitalization and reuse
The Second Chance Pianos objective: Save pianos from a landfill grave, two at a time. Perpetuate their musical spirit. Respect the history, workmanship, and materials that go into each instrument.
This project was inspired by a July, 2012 New York Times story by Daniel J. Wakin about pianos that meet an unceremonious end at the garbage dump.
While many of these doomed pianos are beyond repair, some of them are still viable, given a bit of (often costly) TLC and a welcoming home.
I have obtained a few upright and spinet pianos that are beyond repair. I will disassemble and make lovely things from their parts (no ivory). First up: Kalimbas – aka thumb pianos – made from pianos.
Some of the proceeds from selling the pieces I create from the "parts" pianos will go to restore, tune, and move a "fixer-upper" piano to a new home at a retirement home or community center.