Pastel Society of New Mexico

Artist's Biography

My childhood was spent in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, a land of gentle blue mountains, tangled woods, and wandering rivers. Wherever I go, I am drawn to landscapes that remind me of my first home: intimate spaces whose intricate textures and rich complexity always seem to me the perfect metaphor for the great mysteries of life. Los Ranchos, the village where I live now, offers a wealth of such landscapes. Behind my house runs an acequia, part of the network of irrigation ditches that criss-cross the valley. I spend many hours there, walking, observing, photographing, and drawing the abundant foliage and gently moving water, so different from, and yet fundamentally similar to, the landscapes of my childhood.

For the last several years, most of my paintings have featured water. As a subject for painting as much as a subject for meditation, water is endlessly fascinating: it is transparent, opaque, reflective, moving, still. It is both two- and three-dimensional, and sometimes it is nearly impossible to distinguish these attributes. My paintings are a way of trying to see and understand these seeming contradictions.

I received my bachelor of arts degree in anthropology from Duke University and both Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts degrees from Eastern Michigan University. From 1988 to 1995 my woodcuts, serigraphs, etchings, and mixed media paintings were included in more than 30 regional and national shows. Since moving to New Mexico in 1998, I have worked primarily in pastels. My paintings have been exhibited in a number of national shows and have received several awards, most recently first place in the Pastel Society of New Mexico’s 2005 national exhibition. Two of my paintings were included in the 2007 publication, Best of America: Pastel Artists and Artisans, volume 1.