BIOGRAPHY

 

I grew up in the mountains of Western Maryland. There were no artists in my family, just coal miners, railroad and mill workers. There was no art in any of the family homes. Yet as a child I illustrated my life, day by day, with colored pencils and paint. I won my first award in second grade and spent all of my indoor time at my homemade table in the basement, drawing, painting and dreaming. I left my Appalachian homeland at 17 with a full scholarship to the Maryland Institute, College of Art and then to New York City to work as a designer and illustrator in the fashion industry. My last large project in that era was painting an album cover for a Woodstock musician.

 

Then came 40 years of NOT making fine art, due largely to marriage to a chronic adventurer. Life on the road shepherding two children to ports of call did not lend itself to self expression. Around 2010, with children grown, husband flown and parents buried, I settled in Apple Valley, Utah and turned back toward art. I began to paint again with watercolors, pastels and oil, working hungrily enough to do two solo shows in 2012 and 2015. I participated in many of the St George shows and events to gain skills and repertoire. I took off 3 years during the Covid plague to literally build a house (I personally stained, sanded and sealed every door, window frame and piece of trim, what seemed like 27 miles of baseboard).

 

Last year I joined the Dixie Watercolor Society and SUAG so that I could participate in shows and collaborate. Making art can be an awful lot of fun, an explosive passion, a quest or a giant chore. The deal breaker often seems to be marketing because every artist eventually runs out of storage space. I've always wanted to put colors and forms together, using pigment, dye, cloth, yarn or beads. It's a form of vital self expression that explains how I see the world. I trust that my work brings pleasure to others. In my home, I have a wall of paintings that I bought or traded for, and they bring me constant joy and uplift. I want to return the favor, always. But more than a pretty picture, I'd like to convey a sense of excitement, allegory, mystery and explanation. In the time I have left, I'd like to grow bigger and better as an artist.