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Art is powerful. I have always had an insatiable thirst for making art. A world devoid of art is a world without life. I knew this as a child and was fortunate to have the ongoing love and encouragement of my parents. I also have a fabulously creative stepdaughter and husband who constantly inspire me. When I was twelve I had the opportunity to study the craft of silversmithing with a master artisan from Hungary. His profound sense of integrity about himself as an artist and his art served as a catalyst for the vision of myself as a young artist. At the age of thirteen I discovered the magical world of clay and proceeded to spend all of my spare time during high school in the ceramics studio. For several summers I apprenticed a potter and studied drawing at Parsons School of Design and The New School in New York City.
In 1980 I enrolled at the Portland School of Art known today as MECA. There I discovered two new mediums that became the foundation of the work that I have been producing with regularity as a working professional visual artist -- paint and plaster. Recently I discovered painting with hot pigmented beeswax. This process is called encaustic and fits beautifully with the mixed media quality of my work.
I went to art school planning to study ceramics but eventually fell in love with sculpture because of the possibility of being able to use a wider range of materials. Through the progression of my training I became enraptured with painting. I discovered the power of color. I learned that through the language of color I had a voice of my own.
In 1984 I attended Yale University on a summer fellowship with 20 other junior year art majors from around the world. During my last year in art school my instructors told me that I liked paint too much. I would gob the paint on the canvas to create texture and form. Much to my delight in my last month at school I discovered that painting on plaster was a marvelous medium to combine my excitement for color and texture, with similar qualities to clay.
These plaster works are made of poured plaster that is reinforced with burlap and backed with foam core. I create the texture as the plaster dries. The plaster is dried completely before they are painted with acrylic paint.
Painting on plaster has given me limitless opportunities for the last twenty-two years. Today my works can be found throughout the world and have been purchased by individuals, corporations, and educational institutions.
In 1996 I traveled to China where I attended the Fourth International Women’s Conference in order connect and brainstorm with artists from all over the world. I took part in working with my colleagues in an effort to break our isolation as artists and collaborate on building ideas and communities in which artists can flourish. As a result of this phenomenal opportunity my dancing figures series was born. I returned home with a rich awareness of how powerful people are as creative humans and just how crucial it is for us all to keep the fires of art and hope burning.
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