I’m Sheri and I love sharing stories. Most of the time, my stories have something to do with wine, art, history and architecture. However, right now, we are living in extraordinary times. Many of us are ‘sheltering at home’ and we can’t go about life normally. This includes me. I’m unable to continue my wine studies or teach wine courses. My research for new stories is hampered by the closure of all the libraries.
In addition to my love of wine, art, design and history, I also am an avid photographer. I enjoy sharing my photos of my view of the world. Unfortunately, given my limited circle of movement right now, this is more challenging than usual. My combined desire to be creative and my love of photography led to the start of my current project: Connected in Isolation.
I was born and raised in the New York metropolitan area in the United States. I studied at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where I met Daryl, my best friend and husband. Right after we got married, we moved to California. Our time there ended about five years later, when we accepted an overseas assignment in Norway. Little did we know, but that was the beginning of traipsing around for awhile: a year and half in Norway, almost a year in Ann Arbor in Michigan, a year in Hampshire (in England), and then to the Pacific Northwest where we settled for about 20 years. They were amazing years for us and we raised our family living outside Seattle.
When my daughter, Becca, was old enough to start school, I returned to school myself, where I studied Interior Design at the Art Institute of Seattle. A few years after graduating, I started my own business: Sapphire Studios. I am proud to say that it was a very successful business and I was extremely fortunate to have worked with some incredibly wonderful clients.
In the middle of 2014, Daryl and I moved to London. Our children, Zach and Becca, were young adults and living on their own. The move was planned to be temporary, a two year assignment for Daryl’s job, but we fell in love with London and our lives here. Although I have learned to never say never, we have no intention of leaving this amazing city. I feel immensely fortunate to live here. After a couple of years living in London, I made the very difficult decision to close Sapphire Studios. It was too difficult to work with clients in the US while I and my heart were here.
While starting to build a new life here, I took an introductory wine course (just for fun or so I thought!). I quickly found that I was more intrigued than I had anticipated. One course led to another and another. I am currently working towards earning my WSET Diploma. This qualification is the flagship qualification from the internationally recognised Wine and Spirit Educational Trust based in London. When I am not studying, I share my passion for wine by teaching others.
Although wine-related activities keep me quite busy, I do have some spare time. In that time, I enjoy exploring new places near and far, music, cooking and long walks with my husband, Daryl.
Sometimes, these things all come together at once. In one way or another, it all help me to tell stories. In these crazy times, I’m more compelled than ever and I’m hoping that through the Connected in Isolation project, we’ll create and share those stories together.