Autobiography / Artist's Statement

I was born in Oberlin, Ohio in 1951 and grew up in the Midwest. As a small child, I loved to draw. My Grandmother Lindley was a talented artist and my mother encouraged my efforts, thinking she saw her own mother’s abilities in her child. I was taken to classes and supplied with art materials.

Occidental College was my first attempt at higher education. I entered a rebel phase and, though continuing to study art under Howard Hanson, I decided to become a biologist. After two years of College, I took time off and worked investigated various crafts (pottery, photography, weaving...). I worked in a doll hospital and museum, continuing pottery on the side.

After a period of traveling around the country, I returned to school at U.C. Santa Cruz and plunged into the world of marine algology. Although fascinated by the subject, I found that I had no particular talent in the field. I enrolled in the University of Oregon, returned to fine art and finished a B.F.A. degree in printmaking. Laverne Krause was my professor.

I began painting watercolors in 1980 after taking a class with Steve Mayo, and that media has been my focus ever since. I love the beauty of watercolor. It is alive. Watercolors create with the artist, as well as the artist painting with them. The transparency of watercolor is a joy to me because I am interested in painting light. Watercolor allows this. I paint sunlight on a child’s hair and window light refracting through crystal.

I have always loved drawing people. The human face is a powerful image. I continue to paint portraits by commission and inclination. I have been interested in children's book illustration since I was nine. I created books as class projects in college. My interest was rekindled when my son was born in 1991 and I studied illustrating for children with Keith Baker at the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle. The skills learned while drawing portraits, studying anatomy and botany, and drawing animals as a scrimshander, have all been useful in illustration. Fortunately, I have always enjoyed a healthy fantasy life. Dragons, unicorns, fairies and talking mice are always readily accessible in my imagination.

Beauty does not frighten me. I value a beautiful art because so much of life is ugly. Sometimes my paintings are a retreat from the world. In the studio, color and light become a meditation for me. I hope that my paintings can offer the same to others: a moment of transcendence, a place of light and beauty.

Bellingham is still my home. I read, write and paint. I teach watercolor classes and illustrate children’s books. I watch my garden and the children grow. I walk in the mountains. I cherish my friends. I enjoy the changing light of the seasons and of my life.