About Me
My recent mixed media paintings are inspired by encounters on my travels, whether over land or by boat. I have respect and wonder for the persistent beauty of the natural world as it gets stressed by humanity. For me that beauty resides in the details of the edges where the human world meets the natural world. The settings for my paintings may be mundane and unremarkable, but I want to celebrate the overlooked; the geometry of a boatyard, the lush tangles of plants against manmade structures, the infinite variety of humble oyster shells, and dramatic late afternoon light on chains, lines and anchors.
I was a sculptor for several years and I approach painting with that sensibility, as though I am building the painting. I paint with acrylics onto thick wooden panels and layer patterned or textured papers throughout with acrylic medium.The image continues around the edges of the panel, giving the finished piece a physical presence on the wall.
BACKGROUND
I was born in Munich, Germany and raised in Sioux City, Iowa.
Mom was an accomplished watercolorist and Dad did ceramics. Their influence and many hours at the local art center constituted my early training.
As for formal training, I earned a BFA in painting from the University of Iowa, where I also got an MA in metalworking and jewelry.
I moved to Staten Island, NY in 1982. During the NYC years I learned printmaking from the Women's Studio Workshop. As a studio assistant to Miriam Schapiro I learned how to make collages. I was also an assistant to Faith Ringgold, sewing and quilting her story quilts. Both these women taught me invaluable lessons about living the artist life.
My home now is in Atlantic Highlands, NJ, on the shores of Sandy Hook Bay.
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
A Gardened State, Atlantic Highlands Art Council, Atlantic Highlands, NJ, 2023
43rd Annual Monmouth Museum Juried Show, Middletown, NJ, 2023
Art in the Age of Covid, Atlantic Highlands Art Council, Atlantic Highlands, NJ, 2020-2021
Annual Juried Exhibition, Monmouth County Art Alliance, Red Bank, NJ, 2020
Member Shows, Atlantic Highlands Art Council, Atlantic Highlands, NJ, 2019, 2020, 2022
Really Affordable Art $how, BWAC, Brooklyn, NY, 2018
Michael Ingbar Gallery, NYC, 2017/2018
Women Under Siege; It's Happening Here, Ceres Gallery, NYC, 2017
Robbins Reef Lighthouse: A Home in the Harbor, The Noble Maritime Collection, Staten Island, NY, 2015 - 2021
One Step Beyond: Art Off the Charts, Fountain House Gallery, NYC, 2016
Exposure 2014, Ceres Gallery, NYC
Embrazo Argentina, (2 person) Tottenville Public Library, Staten Island, NY, 2013
Juried Art Exhibit, Staten Island Museum, Staten Island, NY, 2012
Titanic, The Noble Maritime Collection, Staten Island, NY, 2012
MAXIMUS/minimus, ART at Bay, SI, NY, 2011
Miniature Show, Art Haus, SI, NY, 2010
Residual Effects, ART at Bay, SI, NY, 2010
HUGE unHUGE, Access Gallery, Snug Harbor, SI, NY, 2009
Tango, Pritzker Gallery, Highland, NY, 2007
Small Works Invitational, Soho 20 Chelsea, NYC, 2007, 2005, 2003
Silver, 25th Anniversary Exhibition, Snug Harbor, SI, NY, 2005
Good and Plenty, Art in General, NYC, 1993
The American Family Inside Out, Creative Arts Workshop, New Haven, CT, curated by Faith Ringgold, 1993
Windows on White, NYC, 1991
1990 Sculpture Festival, Snug Harbor, SI, NY
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Tango Embraces, Lafayette Grill and Bar, NYC, 2010
Plazoleta del Tango, Klatch Coffee Bar, NYC, 2006;
Becoming Myself, Wagner College Gallery, SI, NY, 1999;
Remembrances and Reminiscences, Access Gallery, Snug Harbor, SI, NY, 1998;
Beneath the Skirts of the Virgin Mary, Access Gallery, Snug Harbor, SI, NY, 1998
PUBLICATIONS
Modern Tango World, No. 8, Spring 2017
Arts Digest (a New York University publication), No. 4, Fall 2016
Staten Island Advance (various)
New York Times 10/17/93
Art in America 1/93
GRANTS
COAHSI/NYSCA Encore grant (for a collaboration), 2013
Staten Island Decentralization Grant for the Arts, 1998, 1997
Greater New York Arts Development Fund Grant, 1993
RESIDENCIES
Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, 1993
Blue Mountain Center, 1990