About Me
My Background
My Inspiration
My Background
- I grew up in Seattle, but received my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in metalsmithing from Colorado State University. A cramped apartment, young son, and stint in jewelry manufacturing changed my mind about working in metal, so I have worked in other media for most of my career. When my son was seven, I found myself single with mouths to f
- I grew up in Seattle, but received my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in metalsmithing from Colorado State University. A cramped apartment, young son, and stint in jewelry manufacturing changed my mind about working in metal, so I have worked in other media for most of my career. When my son was seven, I found myself single with mouths to feed and house payments to make, so practicality led me to study nursing. I worked in oncology and hospice for 26 years until retiring in 2016. In the meantime, I married a wonderful man and we have just celebrated our 30th anniversary. I have 3 children, 2 grandchildren whom I love to spoil and, finally, time to create.
My Mediums
My Inspiration
My Background
Water-based is the closest description of my fine art medium. I started out with traditional watercolor technique but about 10 years ago I was introduced to silk dyeing, and the vibrancy of the colors with the luster of the fabric stole my heart. I am a realist in my more detailed work, but for small silk pieces and wearables I love to p
Water-based is the closest description of my fine art medium. I started out with traditional watercolor technique but about 10 years ago I was introduced to silk dyeing, and the vibrancy of the colors with the luster of the fabric stole my heart. I am a realist in my more detailed work, but for small silk pieces and wearables I love to play with color and pattern.
My newest passion is unrelated to anything painterly, but one could say it's also water based.
It's soap.
It all started with trying to figure out what to do with the chamomile that had taken over my garden. One can only drink so much tea...
I started using that tea for an olive oil soap recipe and from there started experimenting with different herbs and oils. My soaps are olive and coconut oil based with castor oil for lather and other oils for their conditioning and healing properties. I don't use any artificial additives or colors nor do I use any palm oil.
My Inspiration
My Inspiration
My Inspiration
I like light, particularly the interplay of light and shadow, reflection and transparency on objects and life forms. For me, it captures time. My fine art paintings all have an element of that reflection, translucency and shadow.
You could describe my wearables and small silk works as drunk on color. I am totally seduced by the vibrancy o
I like light, particularly the interplay of light and shadow, reflection and transparency on objects and life forms. For me, it captures time. My fine art paintings all have an element of that reflection, translucency and shadow.
You could describe my wearables and small silk works as drunk on color. I am totally seduced by the vibrancy of the acid dyes on silk, and no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to make anything dull or earthen toned.