The shop started because I had lots of wonderful work in my studio, but no one saw it! So I opened an etsy shop as my son has had one for years and has urged me to open one. Since the site is so easy to use, I feel I was successful in creating a great shop despite my rather inadequate computer skills. Thanks to the etsy team for making it so easy! I create the series of works which are included. I love exploring new subject matter in my own style, at peace with myself and the world as I create new imagery which often even surprises me since I work so intuitively!

We are all WORKS IN PROGRESS and this section is just that. Many years ago, I was a member of a group in Charlotte, NC that met the last Thursday of each month. We were visual artists, writers, cloggers( a type of dancing), musicians, and lovers of art and creativity of all sorts. It was one of the most important groups of my life. Anyway, currently, Etsy has become an important part of my life. A place for sharing and SEEING!

So here's more of the sharing. I am a mother, wife of a retired architect, ( married 50 years, widowed as of end of May 2017 ), grandmother, volunteer for our National Parks, a retired mental health professional, lover of nature, see the glass half full most of the time, and I create. I have "designed" since I was very young, a long, long time ago. My Dad used to say that" he couldn't draw flies, so where did I get my ability?" Who knows... I was the only girl, have three brothers. So I was very loved, not spoiled by my parents. Once I heard another artist say when asked," How long did it take you to create this?" The reply, " My WHOLE life! " I like that, yes, works in progress, that we are!

My creative process varies, yet some aspects remain constant. I very rarely sketch first. I prefer simply to start with an idea. Sometimes that involves a specific series. Usually one form or shape suggests a design aspect. I go from there. I have a very strong design background thanks to a professor at UIC, Eugene Dana. Fortunately, I was older than the incoming freshmen taking the course as they seemed to hate it. I knew it was special and useful and wonderful. It taught me to be unafraid of a blank canvas or blank piece of expensive watercolor paper! Quite a good gift, really. I instinctively know how to create a good design, maybe an unusual one, but one that holds together and is pleasing to the eye, well, at least to me.

I love Native American culture and design. That love was an early one dating back to a 1957 trip to Mesa Verde National Park. Climbing around those dwellings with our ranger, who was very knowledgeable and handsome, I might add, was an eye opener! The experience never has left me and made me dig deeper into the cultures and designs of our Native Americans and I continue that adventure up to the present.

I also love things that are Egyptian, African, Japanese, Chinese, archaeology, fossils, feathers, foliage, bleached bones, lichen, natural objects, hiking, music, most kinds, especially jazz, the blues, classic rock, anything by Aaron Copeland, Carley Simon, Annie Lennox, Sting, Ed Sheeran, Halsey, World Music, Carmina Burana, Bernstein, most classical when in the mood for calm, love to read, especially mysteries, to sing out loud , and I won't go on anymore about that.

The work has a landscape space which may or may not be representational. The equal importance of the positive and negative space is an oriental influence. The individual pieces should speak for themselves. They are simply personal expressions of images from the natural world. I tend to fragment reality creating my own personal concept. Since the work is so personal, when others relate positively, it is a joy to me.

I have been a teacher for emotionally disturbed children, worked in nursing homes under the supervision of a psychologist as a counselor. I also was a mental health professional for years working with schizophrenic adults. Needless to say, we are all complex individuals and all works in progress. I continually try to learn new things to keep my "grey cells" active! Biggest challenge EVER is to figure out who I am alone after being married to my dear Chuck for over 50 years. Truly feel his spirit is with me ALWAYS.