Born and raised in New York’s Hudson Valley, my artistic heritage is grounded in the region’s seasonal subtleties. From Roman Catholic rituals to the rusted metal altar of my father’s workshop, I grew up in a world of opposites. It’s no wonder that I pursue image making from the metaphysical to the mundane.
As a child, I sought refuge from the turmoil of an outsized family in the woods and waters surrounding my neighborhood in Albany’s outskirts. I relished outings to the nearby Heldeberg Mountains to scavenge for fossils and arrowheads; to my grandmother’s Victorian home full of mysterious treasures; to church where the smell of beeswax and incense soothed me; and to my grandfather’s outbuildings where assorted implements, feed and coops cultivated my appreciation for shapes, textures and aromas. There were many powerful, independent women surrounding me bearing the names Augusta, Eleanor, Helen, Irene, Loretta, and Marguerite who nurtured me and each other through the gathering and crafting of meals, clothing and adornments. Men, more remote to be sure, were present too, wearing priestly robes or work clothes. From them I grew reluctant to be authentically expressed for fear of reprisals and repercussions.
The opposing themes forming the backdrop of my life and my work were supplemented by adult choices that had me seek out cultural, educational and familial connections missing in my youth. My pursuits, in a way, are metaphors for my art. I obtained a graduate degree in library science, in part to legitimatize the thrill of the hunt; a career as a grants specialist that has me integrate and compress the essential from the superfluous; solo travel in and out of the country on cultural pilgrimages that nurtured my soul; and finally, at forty adopting a Romanian infant and subsequently becoming a single mom, clearly my greatest creative achievement.
Whether living in the Adirondacks, the coast of Maine, in Florida, Boston or Cape Cod, I availed myself of each location’s offerings and incorporate all of it into a collective reference for a body of work that includes drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, encaustic, collage and assemblage. Mostly self-taught, at 45 when I first took myself seriously as an artist, I was quickly encouraged by local, regional and national awards and recognition. Once, while living in Cape Porpoise, Maine, I astonished the locals by undertaking and achieving a creation they considered impossible. In recognition, I was referred to as having “dare-do,” an old New England phrase. That tenacity, in combination with my life and likes, is what I strive to communicate through my art.
