Artist Statement

Growing up in a creative family, I considered myself an artist at a very young age. There was always something being made or created at our house: paintings, papier mache, clay sculpture, sewing, it didn’t matter what. The important thing was to do. In high school, I became serious about art as a pursuit and took every course offered. From there I moved on to studying painting and drawing in France with Parsons School of Design, drawing and art history at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design and eventually to the Massachusetts College of Art, where I earned a BFA in Illustration in 1991.

My art is inspired by direct engagement with natural places. I have been fortunate to travel and live in beautiful settings on the coast and in the mountains of Maine, the Pacific Northwest, Australia and western New York. I've always felt compelled to create; my inspiration is rooted in the beauty I see around me. Not just in picture postcard scenes but everywhere, in the play of light on a leaf in my backyard, the shapes and colors in the sky, stones on a beach or reflections in a puddle. Light, color and beauty are everywhere. I am interested in capturing the feeling of a place, its movement and energy.

The creative process has inspired me to try many media including mosaics, fiber art, stained glass and jewelry. Painting remains my enduring passion. My work exemplifies my belief that the familiar is extraordinary when discovered in the right combinations of color and light.

I work in my home studio in the historic village of East Aurora, NY.