Growing up in Ohio, my earliest artistic memory came in the first grade when I colored my polar bears with stripes and polka dots when I was specifically told to leave them white. I remember standing out in the hallway as punishment, hoping the principal would not come out of his office and scold me. Perhaps my rebellious sprit also began that day. We always seemed to have crayons, paints, paint-by-numbers kits, and other art supplies around. There wasn't much in the way of an Art Department back then, so formal art instruction was not available until I went to college.

I started at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, studying journalism. I was in an experimental living environment and one of the perks was to spend a week in New York City visiting museums, art galleries, artist studios, Harlem schools, and Broadway shows - quite an adventure in the 60s! My next year I transferred to Ohio State University, switching to Art Education. It was a big school in the 60s, where lots of strange new art was being produced. Thirty years later, I finally understand some of it! After years of raising a family and moving to different cities with my husband on various job transfers, I worked as an interior designer. I was always painting for people - personalizing spaces, painting pictures, bench seat cushions, pillows, and so forth.

In the early 90s, while working in a small garden shop in Raleigh, NC, I discovered working with copper, bronze, and brass objects, applying chemicals to give them the aged, verdigris look. I took scraps of the metals home and starting putting some in my paintings, experimenting more and more until they became all metal with only a small amount of paint. This technique has lead to the creation of the three dimensional wall hangings for which I am currently known.

Now, the pieces I create in this manner take on a dramatic new form using the technology of giclee printing. The process enhances the colors achieved through the application of patina on copper. The result is a collage of highly detailed individual panels that, when view together, take on a quilt-like design.

Recent Exhibitions:

International Society Experimental Artists’ 13th Annual Exhibition, Lee County Alliance of the Arts, Fort Myers, Florida
Southern Living Magazine’s 2003 Idea House, Chapel Hill, NC
International Society Experimental Artists’ 12th Annual Exhibition, Beverly Arts Center, Chicago, Illinois
Louise Cameron Art Museum Shop, Wilmington, NC 2002
Winter Show, Green Hill Center for NC Art, Greensboro, NC
“Landscape and Memory”, Sedona Art Center, Sedona, Arizona
“Contemporary Reflections”, New Elements Gallery, Wilmington, NC
International Society Experimental Artists’ Tenth Annual Exhibition Dennos Art Museum, Traverse City, Michigan
Gallery of Contemporary Art, Colorado Springs, Colo., “Selected Work from the Society of Layerists in Multi-Media"

Selected Collections:

Centura Bank, Rocky Mount, NC Pharma Research, Wilmington, NC
Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Research Triangle Park, NC
Burns Doane Swecker & Mathis, Research Triangle Park, NC
Capital Associates, Concourse Lakeside II, Cary, NC
Highwoods Properties, Centre Green, Cary, NC
Fair Point Communications, Charlotte, NC
First Union Capital Marketing Group, Charlotte, NC
Sharpe Architecture, Wilmington, NC
United Health Care Corporate Center, Park City, Utah
Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC
Sabre Group, Research Triangle Park, NC
Bank of Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
PenCorp., Raleigh, NC Rex Hospital Wellness Center, Cary,
NC S.A.S. Institute, Research Triangle Park, NC