I make Art because I must. It is an integral part of who I am.

In high school my favorite subject was art and I took as many courses as I could. Then, for many years, there was little time for making art as I went to nursing school, spent a few years in the Army Nurse Corps, married and had my three children. I continued to work as a nurse for a short while but found that teaching was a much better fit.

Teaching high school art for 26 years was my next full time job. I loved the kids and learned so much from them. Going to work every day to help someone else learn to create something beautiful definitely falls into the great job category. I always told my students that making images was way better than drugs for clarifying your thoughts, being in a world of your own creation, or just relaxing. After teaching I worked for seven years as a child advocate, case manager and guardian  with the Guardian ad Litem program.

Toward the end of my teaching career I was able to fit in some time for my own art. First came the stained glass phase. It was fun to design, make and show and it was good for the band-aid industry. As I was able to take more time for making art my concentration turned to drawing, painting, cutting and pasting. Colored pencil, watercolor, and collage were my favorite media.

Most recently, I am following a new path, textile collage. The possibilities of manipulating fabrics to create images seem endless and I am constantly in the process of learning new applications. It is exciting and fulfilling to both make and teach this particular medium. For the foreseeable future it appears that there will be threads and scraps, glue and pins all over the place!