My Basic Story

I grew up making forts and playing in the woods, and now I live on the banks of the Housatonic River. Watching and learning from nature is a big part of who I am. For my entire life as an artist I have worked with wildlife and forest imagery. Sometimes it is drawing from life, or death, other times it involves story telling through my imagination – incorporating what I’ve observed, researched, and felt while exploring a theme or place.

I work in a range of simple mediums, including drawing with graphic materials such as charcoal, pencil and ink, and painting materials primarily acrylic, but sometimes with gouache, watercolor, for quick studies, or egg tempera for longer time periods. I also take many photos for reference later. A recent exhibition, (January – March 2025) features assembled cabinets using all those media, as well as handmade and found objects.

I have worked as a professional artist in the commercial world as well as the fine arts. In addition to making my own art, I have managed two well-established galleries, one representing ceramic artists and painters, and another representing internationally recognized artists working in glass. In these and other employment situations, I used my skills as a graphic designer to create catalogs, write essays, and cultivate relationships with artists and the public. Other opportunities include illustrations I did for over 15 years for various publications, and these situations honed my skills with drawing to represent well and clearly, an idea or a product.

My fine art tends to reflect this balance between representation and imagination, as I love to draw tiny, detailed images of bugs or plants, and other times to create a story that evolves from my experiences and memory, beginning with large gestural movements using charcoal on paper. The Aves Altar is a series of assembled works which came from my desire to tell a story with more than a two-dimensional surface. I wanted to see more than the image – to open it up and see below the surface. When I found some old cupboard doors, I knew immediately what they were for.

Making art is a journey – I often find myself lost in the art-making forest as I search for a resolution, which is when I truly get to use my imagination and feel that spark of inspiration. Those moments of illumination are my reason for working.

Education

BFA, cum laude, University of Massachusetts, 1993

AA Berkshire Community College, 1990

Montserrat School of Art, 1981

Art Institute of Boston, 1980

Exhibitions:

2025 Mad Rose Gallery, “ Assembled”, Millerton, NY

2024 Becket Arts Center, “Centered”, A juried group exhibition.

2008 Everhart Museum, "Flocks & Feathers - Birds in Science, Culture and Art”, Scranton, PA

Hosmer Gallery, "Wings & a Prayer", Northampton, MA

2007 Babylon Fine Art, Housatonic, MA

Stockbridge Library, Solo Show, Stockbridge, MA

2006 Naoussa Gallery, Invitational, Tyringham, MA
Stockbridge Library, Solo Show, Stockbridge, MA

2005 Naoussa Gallery, “Reflections”, Invitational, Tyringham, MA
Sheffield Art League, “Juried Summer Show”, Sheffield, MA

2004 Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, Lenox, MA
Storefront Artist Project, “Homing In”, Pittsfield, MA

2002 St Louis Art Guild, juried show, St. Louis, MO

2001 Limner Gallery, NY, NY
MPG Gallery, Boston, MA
The Harrison Gallery, Williamstown, MA
Norman Rockwell Museum, “Berkshire Artists 9/ 11 Benefit” Stockbridge, MA

Becket Art Center, MA

Awards/Articles