Artist’s Statement

I view my artwork as a path to the deepest parts of myself. It reflects my internal thoughts, emotions and ideas.

My early pieces were rooted in the landscapes of my childhood. They explored the importance of place and the ways it is expressed in the stance or temperament a child takes on early in life. My current work reflects my spiritual connection with beauty and the deep love I experience when alone in nature.

My goal is to express the invisible by making it tactile, translating what I sense into pieces that can be felt as well as seen. I gain satisfaction when my work resonates with an internal humming or rhythm and allows me to gain insight and come to an understanding about what it is I am creating.

Biography

I was born in a small town in Ontario, Canada, and moved to Colorado in my 20s. I now divide my time between these two places. As a self-taught artist, I first learned construction techniques from traditional quilt makers. In 1987, I co-founded Front Range Contemporary Quilters, an organization whose primary goal was education about the merging mediums of art quilts and fibre arts. Exploring, experiencing and sharing this medium with others was a unique way to discover and nurture the artist in me.

In addition to my own work, I teach art to both children and adults. Some of my rewarding collaborations with young people have included making a wall hanging for The Denver District Attorney’s office, creating props and backdrops for theatre performances, creating paper and fabric collage murals for public school buildings, and a mixed media art project for The Children’s Hospital Clinic.

Currently, my teaching and coaching focuses on helping others find their artistic voices, solving technical problems to allow for self-expression, as well as technique classes on marbling, dyeing and collage.

My work can be viewed at Translations Gallery in Denver and at Chameleon Nation in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.