I am an artist, naturalist, and love sharing my knowledge with others, whether it is teaching art or leading a group of second-graders through the woods on a journey of discovery.
When I was a little girl, I was the one who was always making daisy chains. If you gave me a piece of paper, I would joyfully turn it into a flower or paper chain. In the late 1960s, my mother had this wallpaper that had flowers on it with dotted lines. They were blank and looked like my coloring books, so I decided to color them all in one day. My mother was less than pleased, but I think she understood.
In first grade, I got in trouble because the teacher asked us to draw a house. Well, I drew an entire landscape complete with a tree dangling a swing, gardens in full bloom, birds in the sky, and an old garden gate. The teacher chastised me because I was not told to draw those other things. I was just supposed to draw the house and stop, but I saw the world as more vivid and filled with life than that.
My favorite media include fibers of all types. I draw from the many techniques I have studied over my 40 years as an artist, sometimes combining them in the same piece. My themes tend to follow a continuum from natural to reflections of the man-made world, incorporating a little from both worlds. I also love working with clay, acrylic paints, and found items.
I am on Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist, and I love to blend elements of the natural world into each piece through colors, textures, and organic shapes. I am still drawn to the Mid Century modern aesthetic, which also incorporated elements of nature through color and texture. Look for the interaction between man and nature in my work.
I grew up on a 100-acre farm in southern Ohio and believe in living life simply and going back to more natural and ancient ways and doing so with style and pizzazz. I am passionate about permaculture gardening, herbs and herbal medicine, ancient lore and wisdom, all-natural products, traditional textiles, sustainability, and other affairs of living a healthy, balanced, and simple life. All of these things are the inspiration for my artwork and for what you will find here. My husband and I live on a 1/4-acre mini-farm where we incorporate these ideals into our everyday life. Come along, and perhaps I’ll even throw in a few adventures along the way.