Pamela Sharp 

I grew up in Minnesota, spending my early years on Lake Minnetonka. My 40-plus year professional career was as a computer programmer. My job took me to California in the early 1980's. I developed a passion for deep sea fishing, and a love of the ocean. I also took art and jewelry classes through high school, college electives, and later through the adults schools. Work, fishing, and raising my daughter consumed much of my time over the years, and there never seemed to be much time for art.

Then the pandemic locked us at home, and I was briefly furloughed from my job. I already had a stock of beads and wire that I'd been tinkering with, and started making wire jewelry during the weeks I was out of work and locked down. I had done a lot of wire bending types of projects in school... the wire weaving I’ve incorporated into my pieces is largely self taught, and what I have really started enjoying.

Most of my pieces are made from wire and beads. Many of the beads are purchased, but I’ve also enjoyed scouring thrift shops for vintage broken or distressed beaded jewelry, and “upcycling” the remains to give a new life to some unique and fascinating pieces. I use a variety of wires; some tarnish resistant wires, some bare wires in copper and bronze, and more recently, fine silver.

I relocated permanently to the Big Pine Key in 2023. My family has been vacationing in the Keys since the year after I graduated from high school, and I bought my house here in 2018. No matter where I'd traveled, I was always ready to come back to this beautiful archipelago. I’m happy to be here, and finally be able to call the Florida Keys my home!

​