Biography
Also,
see: artist's statement
 I
grew up in in the Finger Lakes Region of Western New
York. My interest in Nature was there at the start—a
preschooler sneaking out the back door to catch grasshoppers,
worms, snakes, bees—you name it.
Fast-forwarding
past art school (abstract painting), my Nature and Art
sides came together at our camp in the Adirondacks.
Over many summers, using color pencil (so I could put
down a pencil, pick up a child; and vice-versa) I completed
a series of 25 larger-than-life paintings of fantastic
wildflowers that grew outside our door.
In many days of studying uncultivated
plants through
a hand lens, I began re-focusing on certain distractions:
the dragonflies buzzing overhead (perhaps eyeing a
mosquito
eyeing me); or the mantis peering back through the
lens as inquisitively as I was peering at it. So,
what followed was a string of 'critter' paintings:
dragonflies, butterflies, moths, spiders, lacewings,
mantises, and
amphibians.
 9/11 was grounds
for a third series of paintings. Shaken, I retreated
to the Adirondacks. I found regeneration while scuffling
through fallen leaves. A series of watercolors called
Renewal features individual leaves, each shown
with the seed, acorn, nut or cone that will eventually
germinate into a next generation.
Always fascinated
by life cycles, I began to see Butterflies as much more
than pretty little creatures fluttering by. These adults
live short lives, mainly for procreation. It is the
full cycle from eggs through caterpillars, chrysalises
to adults that is the compelling story. I started with
a four-painting series on the individual stages of the
Monarch's metamorphosis. From there I began my current
series of life cycle works, each stage of a butterfly
set within in its native environment featuring its specific
host plants. My enthusiasms for the subject continue
and are the subject of my Newsletter
and Making of a Life
Cycle Painting.
Along the way, I continued my
art education at the Rochester Institute of Technology,
as well as at Atelier XVII and the Parsons School, the
latter both in Paris. In my work I am encouraged and
supported by my two daughters and husband. One daughter
is a professional fine artist in her own right, the
other, spouse of an L.L. Bean manager and herself and
outdoors lover whose critical eyes have often proved
invaluable. As for my husband, he has fallen into the
role of my 'Artistic Support
Specialist' — working for the
prestige of the title, but a tad sheepish about its
acronym.
Also, see: artist's statement
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