about
I have been a member of C’ville Arts, a local coop for three years, where I sell my work. My mosaic studio is in Keswick, which you can visit any time. I am a member of SAMA, Society of American Mosaic Artists.
I got used to making things as a small child. My parents were early DIY champions, removing walls, using scrap wood to tile the playroom floor, colored glass inset into the ceiling for lighting a dark hallway, hauling boulders from the beach to build steps. It became a habit and now it’s my life. It's the most, it's issima!
Retired from forty years of teaching art, I find the time to alter, replace, reconstruct and remove ceilings, windows and walls to control the space and light making it balanced and harmonic in my own homes in Keswick, VA. I am currently building my last home with my husband and I as designers and contractors.
I alter the color and texture of the spaces I live and work in. I move earth and rocks, plants and trees to enjoy visual serenity of my surroundings. I seek comfort of soul and body in these ways.
My two and three dimensional art expresses the joy of color and material, age, fluidity, permanence and solidity. I am leaving my mark on fabrics, canvas, floors, walls, the earth and the minds of the people who experience my little world.
I hop between visiting beaches all over and the hills of Charlottesville, VA and I'm inspired by both worlds. My husband, Mark, and I co-founded ARTCHO an annual art festival in Charlottesville. It is in the state of re-invention since covid days, but we hope to reincarnate it as a local arts community celebration of the arts. Come see us! www.artcho.org.
I am influenced by:
working friend-artists all around me: Alia, Katie, Max, Sigrid, Chicho, Cooch, Jason.
layers of direct color mixing of Wolf Kahn
David Hockney’s marked up patterns and flattened depth
expressionistic markings of Alexei Jawlensky
Wm. H. Johnson’s use of rich, jewely color & patterns
architectural structures of Gaudi, “Bucky” Fuller, Mario Botta, classisists
layered textured surfaces from ancient Hercolano and Pompeii
Best Quotes:
“Art is both creation and recreation. Of the two ideas, I think art as recreation or as sheer play of the human spirit is more important.”-Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living, 1937
“Everyone is an artist. Every culture makes art. Call yourself an artist and go make art. Make your mark.” -me, I've told my students and peers this a million times!
“Art is an integral to the development of cognitive skills such as listening, thinking, problem solving, matching form to function and decision making”...p. 25 Harvard ed review Vol. 61 Feb. 1991.
“The arts can also open pathways toward understanding the richness of peoples cultures that inhabit our world” -IDK
“Art is art. It is its own subject with its own history and development, its own set of rules and elements and should be taught as such. The creative process is an innate and spiritual part of each human being and must be allowed to flourish for the person to grow.”-me.