Cynthia Thomson is a native of northern Minnesota. She moved to southwest Kansas in August 2003 to take a job teaching elementary general music in Dodge City. She first became interested in making jewelry with wire the following Christmas.
"I went shopping with my mother and sister over the holiday break. We went to a local Micheal's and I saw a set of jewelry making pliers there. The shapes and sizes made me curious. What were these for? I bought the set, some wire, beads and a book of design ideas and began to play around with them. I had a passing interest in it for a few weeks and then put them down."
She began creating her own jewerly in a regular basis the following March after having gall bladder surgery and injuring her ankle.
"The day spring break started I was sitting on my couch watching TV. The phone rang on the other side of the room and I got up to answer it. The socks I was wearing at the time were two sizes too big for me As I was walking to the phone, my foot slipped inside of the socks I was wearing and I badly bruised the top of my foot and my ankle. I spent the rest of my spring break on the couch with my foot elevated and a card table of wire, beads and tools in front of me."
She hasn't stopped since! Cynthia has taken community college classes on metalsmithing techniques, lampworking, and wire wrapping. She's read numerous books and self taught herself many of the advanced wire wrapping techniques she uses in her pieces.
"My work sort of evolves. The more I see and learn about different techniques and materials, the more varied my work becomes. I try to incorporate as many different ideas and skills as I can. It makes me produce higher quality wearable artwork for my customers."
