As with most artists, I cannot recall when I first began to draw. I do remember praise for many a small doodle, and I do remember being shocked in preschool when I completed my first master piece in red poster paint, a monumental drawing of a running horse.  I dragged my mother through the yard to show her my easel. But instead of the expected astonishment and praise at my accomplishment, she politely asked, “What is it, dear?” Over the next five decades I have worked to improve my skills of representation while not losing entirely the abandon and imagination which came naturally so many years ago. I have also struggled with the necessity of balancing the demands of children and family with my personal passion to create. The balance has been a difficult and often inequitable one. The conflicts born of the necessary interruptions of reality into the realm of  pure creative process have always been challenging.

When I graduated from Pomona College in 1971 with a B.A. and a major in art, I  immediately headed for Japan. I had an enriching two year stay and took up Sumie, the art of Japanese brush painting. The skills of brush and paint control that I learned at this time have proved invaluable to me. Also the more subtle lessons and influences of  Japanese design and use of color helped me visualize my art in new ways. Living in and around Japanese architecture, gardens and temples, has had a lasting effect on my perceptions of space and beauty and continues to be a resonating force in my life.

The year after returning from Japan I began a family and simultaneously expanded my love affair with nature and natural fibers by taking up weaving. It seemed to be an art form that blended well with the raising of small children; no sticky messes, and, with patience and diligence, most things can be untangled. I took several classes at a local weaving store and learned many techniques, including different methods for dying fibers. With this knowledge I created tapestries and color and texture studies which I produced for commissions and personal pleasure. The most dramatic pieces I produced were for the Trammel Crow Co. They hang under skylights in two stairwells in an office building. The pieces were created from linen, cotton and wool fibers, brass and aluminum. The process of designing and executing pieces of such a massive scale was challenging, rewarding and very enjoyable.

 

During this time I also freelanced as a calligrapher and designed business cards and menus for local business. I produced three more children and became active in volunteering in their schools, doing art projects and teaching art classes after school. As my family expanded I experienced  growing difficulty in setting aside any time for the production of non-commissioned art work. I longed for the experiences of personal expression, but the little discretionary time available always seemed to vanish before I could grasp it.

I counter attacked by taking drawing classes at night and began exhibiting some of my weavings in local art shows. The drawing classes were wonderful and extremely beneficial. The art shows, however, although rewarding and providing good exposure, consumed far too much time and energy. I still needed to put my family responsibilities first, and so I only continued in one local show each year. Also at this time my calligraphy and freelance designing work was fizzling out with the ever increasing availability of personal computers.  I looked for a new work focus.

I  had one more child, (odd numbers are always more interesting), and began painting murals. I enjoyed the freedom and challenge of creating again on a grand scale. I also benefited from the confidence I gained designing and producing images for my clients, in the intimacy of their homes and offices, to please them while also reaching my standards of excellence. I continued volunteering at my children’s schools and worked for two years as the head of the art department and main art teacher at a small K trough 8 private school. Despite my love of working with art and children, I was left hungering to do more of my own work.        
    
It was during my tenure as a teacher that I came to the conclusion that my background in ceramics was lacking . So I began ceramic classes with Ann Sears, a truly gifted, gentle and creative soul. To my great pleasure, after a few years of gathering some necessary technique, I found that I could express myself in this new medium in entirely new ways.  These creations, while being fresh and new, also used the drawing, painting, design and collage techniques  I had been working on.

At this point ceramics has almost completely taken over my creative expression. I find it very rewarding and at the same time accessible to my cliental . I work to capture within my pieces a classic feeling reflective of the arts and crafts movement.  It is from the nature of this movement that the roots of my designing nature have grown and matured. I love expressing the sculptural quality of nature, the vastness of it confined in a small space.  Also the beauty  and serendipity of color and the arbitrariness of the elements  which govern the process of clay are magical to me. I love working with refined and exacting technique that is surrendered to the kiln god in the end. Just like life; put in the effort...in great measure, and see what you get. Life and art, always unfolding, hand in hand.