I grew up in the Midwest. After completing masters degrees in sociology and social work at the University of Iowa in my mid twenties, I pursued a career in college administration for ten years. While that career was creative and fulfilling, my lifelong artistic interests kept calling. At age 35, I left my job as an associate dean at Occidental College in Los Angeles to pursue an M.F.A. in printmaking at California State University in Long Beach, which I completed in 1994.
Since finishing school, I have focused on creating mixed media works on paper, which I consider to be drawings or monoprints, made by pressing a variety of found objects covered with ink into wet paper. I also draw in other ways that incorporate chance as an active force. In addition, intaglio, relief and screenprinting (serigraph) techniques continue to hold great interest. Overall, what propels me forward is a fascination with process and how I might push the medium I’m using in new, interesting ways.
I have enjoyed residencies – two visits for a month each in Newfoundland and one month in an electricity-free cabin in the desert hills above Temecula, California. These residencies allowed me to focus full time on my work while getting to know my surrounding geography and art community.
My art has been exhibited throughout the United States and in Europe. In 2004, my book, Simple Screenprinting: Basic Techniques and Creative Projects, was published by Lark Books and is currently in its 15th printing. I taught printmaking at Long Beach City College for 12 years.
I love to read, walk and swim, garden, travel, and dig through boxes of old stuff at swapmeets with my husband, Joe.
