From 1988 until 2001 I designed and manufactured giftware, which I sold to gift shops, museum stores, craft galleries, mail-order catalogs, and department stores. Long before everything was smeared with extraneous 

 words, I made many things that featured words. Some of the wares were expensive and beautiful. Some were 

 cheap and more about the amusing content than the aesthetics. The thread that linked it all together was an 

 interest in exploring how people invest their own meaning and experiences into objects they purchase.