Barb Fajardo first experienced polymer clay in 2000, with a basic beginner class at a local community college. Since that day, she has continued working in the medium focusing on many different styles of beads and jewelry. 
 
Her beads and jewelry have been sold to collectors all over the world. She has written online tutorials for Capped Swirl Lentils, Pillow Beads, Scrappy Swirls and Intro to Textured Flora Beads. Print articles include Kaleidoscope Tile Pendant for Polymer Cafe and Polymer Clay Tile Pendants for Bead and Button. Barb also teaches private lessons from her home in the north valley of Albuquerque.  
 
She has won local and national awards for her jewelry, including the prestigious Niche Award in 2011. She is currently a finalist for another Niche Award in 2013. Her work can also be seen in the book Adapting Quilt Patterns to Polymer Clay and the catalogs Progress and Possibilities and the Synergy2 Exhibit, Exploring Connections. Barb is a member of Yucca Art Gallery, the oldest co-op gallery in Albuquerque's historic Old Town.

In 2012, Barb began teaching her innovative techniques to Guilds in Canada and the US, and had dates set for 2013. She hopes to plan a European teaching tour in 2014.

Inspiration comes from her own surroundings in the high desert of New Mexico where she has lived since the age of 5, when her father, an artist himself left Kentucky for this state that he had heard so much about. The vibrant colors in the wide open sky and the sprawling landscape, as well as the changing shadows and rustic texture make this area an artist's paradise!