I've been described as a cool Germanic blonde with a warm Italian heart. But, I feel more like a PIRATE - nomadic, adventurous, thrill-seeking, non-conformist, passionate, decadent at times, bucking the system, forever treasure-hunting and scheming. I'm an entrepreneur, inventor and designer, working with gold and silver. I beleive that design is driven by MATERIAL INNOVATION. I've designed gold and silver jewelry collections with fashion designers, industrial designers, architects and artists - I thrive on creative collaboration. I view gold and silver as an artistic medium with infinite possibilities. I'm a specialist in ancient African goldsmithing techniques (I built the Gold of Africa Museum in Cape Town www.goldofafrica.com)I recently spent 40 days and nights in a Benedictine Abbey "finding myself". I was exploring the ethics of the gold industry, materialism and how I can use my talents to make the world a better place. This was part of a Discovery TV documentary which will air on the TLC channel in September 2006 called "The Monastery"... look out for it! I'm thinking about going back to school to get a Masters in Fine Art (in jewelry and metalsmithing).I have a home in France (long story), so I try to get to France as much as possible. I've studied/lived/worked in: Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, India, China, South Africa, France, Israel, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Korea and Hong Kong. I've spent a fair amount of time in West Africa and South America. I have been living overseas for nearly 20 years and just moved back to the USA.Right now I am busy writing a novel, drawing on my gold industry experience -- the scandals, conspiaracies, loves, adventures, glamour, etc. The gold industry is unbelieveably interesting, and the characters are larger than life. I'm also busy working on an invention and running a charity business in South Africa that takes people off the streets and trains them to produce gold and silver jewelry components using ancient African goldsmithing techniques.Life is good.