Born in El Paso, Texas in 1942, Gordon has lived in nine different states, travelled through most of the rest, and spent time in eleven foreign countries, but has always found himself drawn back to the Southwest. "It’s a magical land," he says. "After moving to Tucson more than fifteen years ago, I found myself for the first time willing to stay in one place. It wasn’t intentional, the land just sort of got hold of me and hasn’t yet let go.

"A childhood fascination with ‘pretty rocks’ reemerged in full force shortly after my arrival in Tucson," Gordon says. "At a gem show not long after we arrived, I met a wire-wrapper from Florida, Elmer Robbins, who showed me a couple of ways to set stones and introduced me to lapidary work. The wire work captivated me. With a very limited budget, it offered a way to begin immediately setting stones in jewelry, and within a year, making jewelry had evolved into a precarious livelihood.

"After nearly fourteen years of working with wire, it is only in the past two or three that I feel I have really begun to explore the possibilities inherent in its unique properties. I continue to be fascinated by stones, and consider Mother Nature to be the ultimate artist. I like to think of myself as a framer of her creations, and strive to make my frames worthy of her art."