Mixed-media artist Stephen Dalton broke his neck in a diving accident 30 years ago, leaving him paralyzed and in a wheelchair. Rather than succumbing to the injury that left him with limited dexterity in his hands, the Powhatan County native started making jewelry.
"Making something every day from almost nothing has become a way of life," he says of the pins, pendants and earrings he creates from his North Side home studio under the label Half Baked Ideas ( halfbakedideas.etsy.com ).
The jewelry Dalton pieces together from watercolor paper and casts in an epoxy resin ranges from abstract work to representational pieces. On days when he can't move his fingers, the 52-year-old artist sometimes works with his teeth. "When you find something you're passionate about, you're stimulated in life, and it all fits together," he says. Meet the artist and purchase his work that ranges in price from $12 to $50 at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts gift shop on June 22 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. —AD
