My Story
I grew up drawing pictures…
As children (all 6 of us) we were well supplied with buckets of crayons. My dad started out as an artist, supporting himself and my mom, drawing caricatures at State Fairs. Although, once the children started to arrive, he had to find more lucrative employment, he occasionally took out his wooden box of pastels (which I still have, since his passing) and drew caricatures of us kids, along with our stories (one child had our cat in a chokehold). I can see this influence in my own work, in my self-portraits which hold some of the same picture-story and whimsy of his drawings. He was also a master at watercolor and lithographs and, in his later years, joined me in one summer with the Outdoor Painter’s Project with Terry St. John. It is a memory I treasure.
Artistic growth is, more than anything else, a refinement of the sense of truthfulness
- Willa Cather
My Work, Today.
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Landscapes
As a California native, I was raised in the California sunshine with its varied and beautiful views. I started painting landscape oils while an art student at UCSC (where I also received my teaching credential). How could I resist those golden hills and peeks of the bay? Many of my paintings are on display at Persephone Restaurant, in Aptos. Please stop by.
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Self-portraits
My series of biographical self-portraits, evolved unexpectedly. During the years that I had less time to paint (due to teaching, and parenting duties), I created a daily routine consisted of drawing a quick ‘self-portrait doodle’, that reflected my mood for that day, as well as a poetry sketch and a journal entry.
This image became the starting point, often taking surprising directions as the painting developed. This started as a year long project but is still continuing. These journals have become a visual as well as written diary consisting of my sketches, my poems and the final painting for the month.
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Abstract / Conceptual
This is a collection of works that steps a bit outside the other categories. In these, I explore the abstract elements of painting (color, composition, shape) to tell its story. The conceptual ones I call 'painting poems'.