I fell in love with antique Victorian shades in my early thirties. I was struck by their grace and the exquisite detail which gave each one a personality all of it's own. I started searching out these shades in antiques shops and even had the library bring up antiques turn-of-the-century magazines, which I perused for information about these pieces of art. Through my research, I found the era of Victorian fabric shades to be from the 1880's through what was the height of their popularity, the 1920's. The magazines also contained information even on how to make the shades from scratch. I was mesmerized and decided I'd found my passion in life. I found and dismantled several antique shades and slowly learned the art from inside out. I initially marketed them through a local art market, (Saturday Market) in Portland, Oregon. Since then, I've owned two lampshade shops, put together a catalog, sold at antique shows and the art market and have created a shade mail-order business.
    I ship shades around the country to both shops and individual people. One of the New York shops sold shades to Carly Simon, Cindy Lauper and a Woody Allen film. I've been lucky enough to be interviewed on local TV stations and for publications including the New York Times, House Beautiful, Victorian Homes, Victorian Sampler, The Oregonian, etc. My love of Victorian shade designing has kept me happy and busy for thirty years and will continue for a long time to come. The feeling of designing a shade and seeing it progress from conception to finished piece is hugely satisfying. And to find that others are pleased, too, is just icing on the cake.