In 1987, I was working in Chicago as a medical reporter. I bemoaned to a coworker that I needed something different to do on vacation, and she suggested taking a class at the Oxbow Art Colony. On the morning I arrived at the departure point in back of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and saw a yellow school bus full of teenagers, I nearly turned around and drove home.
Luckily for me, I didn’t.
Instead, that week of drawing and painting opened my eyes to a new way to see. The light falling on telephone poles suddenly became exquisitely interesting. The interplay of light and shadow became an object of fascination. And hence, my artistic side was unleashed.
Since then, I have explored a wide variety of media, from printmaking to photography to embroidery (much to my dearly departed Mom’s surprise!). I also shifted career paths, from journalism and editorial work to graphic and web design. As of late, my professional interest and path has shifted to user experience (UX) design, which is the practice of building applications and websites that provide the best experience for their users.
In 2015, I started participating in the annual, Instagram-based #The100DayProject, started by Elle Luna of The Great Discontent. The discipline of a daily creative practice has helped me to discover my voice and to gain confidence in myself as an artist, and it has expanded my virtual creative community.
Since then, I have worked primarily in collage, fabric and thread, and photography, focusing on finding beauty in the mundane and overlooked parts of our environment.
Workshops
Arrowmont School of Crafts » Drawing with thread (Joetta Maue) » Ecoprinting on fabric (Susan Fecho) » The boro esthetic (Jody Alexander) » Encaustic collage (Erin Anfinson) » Painting portraits with thread (Rebecca Ringquist) » The stitched canvas (Jennifer Reis) » Painting/collage (Holly Roberts) » Embroidered portraits (Lauren DiCioccio)
Penland School of Crafts » The art of fabric collage (Jason Pollen) » Encaustic painting (Celia Gray) » Screen printing on fabric (Clare Verstegen) » Embroidering maps (Melinda Barta) » Illustrating personal narrative (Ruth Marten) » Printing on silk (Sissy Siska) » Bookmaking (Julie Leonard) » Paper sculpture (Betty Oliver) » Polaroid transfer (John Reuter) » Monotype/collagraph printing (Ila Prouty) » Jewelry (Mary Ann Scherr)
Art & Soul Retreat » Sally Jean Alexander, Claudine Hellmuth, and others
Oxbow Art Colony (multiple years) » Holly Greenberg, collagraph; and others
Woodstock School of Art » Monotype
Art League School of the Torpedo Factory » printmaking workshops with Penny Barringer and Allen Kaneshiro; abstract painting; collage
Smithsonian Institution Resident Associate Program » multiple workshops
Recognitions
Collages published in Contemporary Collage Magazine, Issues #6, #10, #14 2022
Brooch selected for inclusion in Cloth, Paper, Scissors Reader Challenge Nov/Dec 2013
Art of Improvisation article and encaustic piece featured in inaugural issue of Mixed Media Art Magazine 2013
“Dispatches from Climacterica” postcard set selected for exhibit Reve(a)ling Feminist Art , Gallery 123, George Mason University 2010
Printing & Graphic Communications Association Award of Excellence, Poster 2003
Creative Network invitational logo show 2002
Art Directors Club/DC Annual Shows website, dinner invitation/program 2000–1
Advertising Club/DC Addy Annual Show Merit Award logo and stationery 2001
Typographic work published in Working with Computer Type 4: Experimental Typography 1997
Illustrations selected for design student show, Anderson Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University 1996
Three monotypes selected for student show, Dadian Gallery Annex exhibition, “Empowering Monotype” 1992
Monotype “Obelisk” selected for two shows: Fragments from a Pilgrimage, Dadian Gallery and Creative Monotypes: Selected Works, Lipsett Gallery, NIH 1992
Monotype “Four Aspects of Life” received Merit Award, summer student show, Woodstock School of Art 1992