Biography

Choosing to tell my story in writing is difficult for me because I don't really want to talk about it. Will people understand what I have been up against? Should I leave it in the past? But this is a biography and my story is what brought me here today, be transparent and share. 

I have always made art. As a kid I was always cutting things up, gluing, painting, searching for found objects to transform into something. I grew up in St. Louis in a great family with a lot of artistic encouragement and freedom. I am aware that I was fortunate to have that.

Throughout my adult career there have been several genres I fully committed to. One series were sculptures made out of driftwood from Lake Michigan. I would collect large pieces of wood and build tall curvy ladders out of the lengths, then paint them as pop art totem poles. Driftwood was free and I was young and broke so it made sense at the time.

I also made what I called Wallboards. I would find old beveled doors in the many alleys of Chicago then cut them into several pieces, framing the beveled wood sections of the door, installing glass knobs at the bottom then painting lovely flowers in the center. That product was very successful in retail, a prominent display at Dilly Lily and eventually a trunk show with Neiman Marcus.

Meanwhile, I had survived unrelenting poor health, injuries and bad timing for decades. In 2000 I fell from a seizure and hurt myself terribly. Overcoming the injuries was distressing to me. I could not understand why so many things were going wrong in my life. I was ready to do the whatever it takes to heal, and I believed that I was being honest with myself. One of the many things I learned in my quest for wellness was that I owed myself more forgiveness than I knew. Western medicine, faith, spiritual participation, yoga, visits to Shamans, acupuncture, nutrition, crystal healing, self love, self soothing, accepting love from others, I did the work but still the obstacles were as constant as the tides. I found comfort in isolating myself during the worst of it, 2000-2012, and again 2018-to present, In solitude my art changed into something meaningful on my canvases. If you look closely at some of my paintings you can see the journey begin and continue.

Moving to Los Angeles in 2008 after 21 years in Chicago was a brave decision for me. The warm weather and blue skies nurtured me as I became ‘Aware’. of my ‘Self”. My path to enlightenment had begun and my paintings began to change in color and content. One painting in particular moved me to my soul. It is called Man. I had intended the piece to be another still life floral. I primed the canvas, laid layers of white and cream background and sketched a table with a vase. I left my studio for the day and when I returned, much to my surprise, there He was, Man. The canvas was in landscape position as it was drying but had I intended it to be vertical. He was on his knees like a warrior, face turned to the side, a mask that he held in his left hand rested on his thigh. He took over the painting and I was glad for it. The symbolism for me personally was meaningful. As I observed others taking in the painting at the first show I participated in in over a decade ago, I knew they too related to its meaning. We are all warriors in our own right, perhaps hiding behind our individual masks. Life is a personal journey and we are all related in that life is hard and filled with difficulties. From that painting forward I have embraced the energy that a painting grows into and becomes. Each day, no matter how I may feel physically, I am at ease inside my heart and mind. I live in a happy place, which is where I decided to be. I love to create and share beauty with others.