About the artist: From a young age, I remember being excited by color, shape, and form. Early home surroundings were stimulating. My grandmother sewed clothes, made quilts, and planted colorful flower gardens. There were always wonderful cooking smells filling the house, and I was growing in every direction. My creative spirit emerged in many ways. I had art scholarships from high school in Detroit, but directed my career education toward nursing.
After moving back into the art world thirty years ago, I have been on a continual evolution of style. In early years I worked in clay, jewelry, weaving, and drawing. Learning to see in my unique way, and being willing to change, allowed later works in pen & ink, acrylics, wood, and clay. Artistic direction comes like a package deal, taking all aspects of a person’s personality, character, and eccentricities. “You make happy pictures” my painter friend Hiede said. That’s the emotion I feel when I am painting.
My artistic life is about colorful impressionistic visual expression. My resource material comes from my inner view, photos, and the works of other artists. I have an extensive library of other artists including Picasso, Bonnard, Cezanne, Van Gogh, and Degas.
I illustrated a children's book “Mama Can You Turn On the Moon.” My work is in collections across the United States. In 1997, I was one of a small group of artists selected to represent Michigan in Japan. During 3 months of the winter of 2010, my husband Fred & I filled the main 4000 square foot exhibition area of the Saginaw Art Museum with our two person show. I paint at my home studio and up north. I find the coast of Michigan and the Upper Peninsula a calm and peaceful place to work. Fred, a wood turner and maker of hand built contemporary furniture, has been supportive.
My house is a repository of all the colorful and creative things that have meant something to me. It holds a lifetime worth of treasures. I am honored to share my current world of paintings and sculpture with you.
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