I was Updating my Bio and It Was To Long...

Since it is a new year I was updating my blog including my Bio file but of course I wrote to much and it didn't fit (not surprising for me you should hear me talk!). So I decided to post it instead with the hopes of readers getting to know me and feeling comfortable with writing back so I can get to know you. So sit back and get comfy!

Hello! I am Joan Nichols and I am from Rochester New York. I am a wife, mother of 2 great boys and a local artist and yoga instructor.

My family is my number one love hands down! My next two loves would be yoga and art. I have been classically trained as a graphic designer and studied in London. After leaving the graphic industry to have my boys I began to teach myself the art of jewelry design and then began to take classes. I started out by learning how to string and hand knot pearls the old fashioned way. Next I took some forging metal classes, enameling classes and eventually found my way to PMC (Precious Metals Clay) which is my favorite material at the moment.

Most of my work could be classified as “Modern Victorian meets casual classics,” and of course each piece has a story. My creativity is guided by various words of wisdom, which inspire my work, and translates into color schemes, unique compositions and meaningful charms.

My love of typography from my graphic designing days is included in some form in many of my pieces. This has led me to develop my “Treasured Lockets” line of charms, which I first saw the technique by artist Sally Jean Alexander. My “Treasured Lockets” allow me to express myself and help me bridge the gap between my art and yoga since most of the sayings I use in my work come from my passion of life that yoga brings to me. A charm I recently created says “Where there is love, there is faith” and another one that I created says “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

Speaking of yoga it has transformed my life. I fell into it quite by accident – literally since a serious fall left me with quite a back injury that was eventually healed through yoga. That was 15 years ago and thank God I have been pain free most of the time. I decided to learn to teach about 10 years ago and have been teaching for the last 8 years. I am an ERYT through the Yoga Alliance which is an international governing body of yoga teachers. You must complete over 200 hour of class room study to get to this level.

Yoga heals the body, mind and spirit. It allows us to find our true selves and in discovering who we are, we can better help those around us.

My hope for my blog is to build a community of like minded people in which we can share our passions and stay connected with friends and family and create new friends.

Last but not least remember the shortest distance between two people is laughter so laugh often.

Namaste.